Deceiving the Apocalypse
by MyPillow
Summary: After defeating Kaguya, Naruto and Sasuke have their final battle. When their final attack connects with each other, it opens a inter-dimensional rift that captures Naruto. Having been teleported into a new world, wounded and now missing a limb, Naruto must learn how to make his way home again. But protecting his new friends from the Apocalypse might delay his return. NarutoxHarem
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! This is an idea that I've had stuck in my head for quite some time that I just haven't had the gall to write yet. But now that I've had a few chapters written down, I've decided to post the first chapter. I just want to say that I DO NOT own either Naruto or Highschool of the Dead. And I hope you like the book. Please Read and Review!

Pairings: NarutoxHarem

" **Speaking."** Kyuubi speaking

" _ **Thinking."**_ Kyuubi thinking

"Speaking." Person speaking

" _Thinking."_ Person thinking

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

 **Deceiving The Apocalypse**

CHAPTER 1

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

The sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the abnormally quiet air. Splashes of water followed shortly after. Pants and heavy breathing were nothing but a whisper, hanging tiredly in the red sky of the evening. Onyx hairs stared into the sky blue eyes, both of them swollen. Bruises, scratches, and blood littered the two boys' bodies as they used the weight of the other for support. As usual. The blond had his fist on his counterpart's forehead, resting there. The brunette had his fist resting on the blonde's chest. Nothing was said between them, but words were spoken.

The last of their strength gave out, and they fell to their knees in the water under them. Both wet, cold, beaten, and broken. They refused to relent. They leaned on each other even more, trying to willed themselves to move, but it seemed impossible of a feat. Slowly, a band across the blonde's forehead finally came untied in the back and slipped away. It fell into the water below them, a metal plate surfacing showing the engraved pattern of what looked to be a leaf.

" **Hang in there, Naruto!"**

Naruto's eyes remained trained on his best friend, unwilling to look away. It was common for him to hear his lifelong partner inside of his head now. The Kyuubi no Kitsune. His friend. If Naruto wanted to respond the entity sealed inside of him, he made no outward expression.

" **It's not much but I've finished infusing some more chakra–!"**

Kurama was interrupted. He saw the brunette's fist was pulling the chakra that he had just finished compiling for Naruto's use, and converting it into his own chakra. Naruto looked down at his hand, seeing Kurama's red chakra encasing his best friend's hand. It seemed to suck out the remainder of Naruto's strength, as even standing was too hard for him now. Slowly, he painfully gasped as his whole body gave out, dropping down to the murky, muddy waters below.

"This is one of the abilities of the Rinnegan. As someone who possesses the eyes of the Uchiha… My victory is inevitable."

Naruto arms were the only thing preventing him from dropping his head below the water. He couldn't say anything in response. The brunette stood up, having now gained enough energy. He held his hand to the side and the sound of electricity filled the air. A bright blue light flashed briefly before bursting into lightning, the sound of chirping birds ringing all around the valley. Naruto still couldn't move.

"Farewell…"

The brunette stared down at the blond. His unclosed onyx colored eye blended into a red, three black tomoe swirling around the pupil stared down again at the blond.

"My one and only…"

He raised his lightning induced hand back, ready to stab.

"Friend!"

Thrusting his fist forward, timed slowed down. Naruto watched in his own headband, the reflection of the brunette lurch forward. He raised his head quickly, staring into the eyes of the Sharingan. His blue eyes calm, and watched as the brunette flinched, the power of the Sharingan faded away. Right before the lightning encased fist would pierce through Naruto's head, he leaned to the side, bringing up his left first for an uppercut, infusing the tiny remainder of chakra into it, and attempting to put as much force into as he could in his current state.

His fist collided with the black haired teen's chin, sending him flying backwards and into the rocky wall of the valley. Naruto panted, using the small burst of adrenaline through his body to stand up. Every single inch of his body felt like lead. Ready to collapse at a moment's notice. The pain he has received throughout the day was nothing but a dull throbbing, numbed by his own exhaustion. It was a battle just to keep his eye open, due to the other being swollen shut. His lungs felt like they were on fire, his throat parched, and he felt nauseous. But none of these things were enough to make him stop. If he had to fight until he was on his death bed to prove this boy in front of him. His best friend. That this world was fine the way it was…then so be it.

Naruto growled lowly, thinking about it for a second. "Sasuke…" His voice was but a whisper, but it carried so much.

He stared at the subduing dust in the distance, Kurama's voice in his head speaking up again.

" **That was a great counter."** The fox praised. **"You didn't miss the fact that his visual prowess is weakened!"**

Wordlessly, Naruto bent down and picked up his beloved headband floating in the water and gingerly put it in his back pocket, securing it there. He watched as Sasuke grabbed the edge of the crater he was in and pulled himself from the back, growling in irritation.

"Over and…"

Sasuke got on his knees, voice slightly louder. "Over and…"

He lifted his head, staring at Naruto. "Over and…

He stood up snarling at the blond, voice now getting louder and louder each time he said it. Until he was yelling. "over and over and Over And OVER AND OVER AGAIN!"

He was clutching the clothes on his chest, glaring his unhidden contempt in his eyes at his best friend.

"Just give up and let ME CUT YOU DOWN ALREADY!"

His voice was laced with emotion, frustration being the key factor. It echoed in the valley. The two teens stared each other down. Sasuke just wanted to end this, he wanted it to end. He wanted to be alone. He couldn't afford to have someone like Naruto live.

Quietly, Naruto chuckled, exhaustion seemed to seep out of his voice. Sasuke couldn't understand how he was still going. Naruto had been fighting continuously for so long. How can he keep this up? WHY would he keep this up? Sasuke grit his teeth as Naruto looked up at him with only compassion and determination.

"Can't do that. 'Cuz I'm your one and only friend."

Sasuke grit his teeth, then took a deep breath. Trying to calm his frustration. This is it. This will be the last attack. He pushed his chakra into his eye and hand, opening them both to stare down at Naruto. His eye now whirled alive with the Sharingan. And a bright blue light filled his crater as a scream pierced and reverberated through the rock. His Chidori active.

Naruto stared. Understanding what Sasuke was unconsciously asking. This will be the last attack. In his mind, Kurama spoke again. **"I figured as much…He's assimilated the chakra I created and infused for you, and made it his own…"** There was a pause and Naruto noticed something different about the Chidori. He studied the black flames that were discretely hiding underneath the Chidori. To combine two elements into the same jutsu while keeping them separate at the same time… Sasuke, you truly are a genius. **"And now flame control…"**

" **He intends to finish this with one last blast. Listen…"**

In his mindscape, Naruto turned around to stare at his giant friend. **"I'm giving what remains of my own chakra…Once I do that, it's going to put me to sleep. Don't unleash your jutsu until the last minute, so he doesn't absorb anymore chakra from you. Well, not that he can use his newly awakened Rinnegan to absorb chakra while putting out his own jutsu…"**

His thought process was paused when he noticed Naruto was smiling at him. Almost as if to say good bye for now. He noticed that Naruto was holding out his fist, waiting for Kurama. The giant fox smiled sadly, amazed that Naruto was able to keep surprising him. He didn't want to see his container…no…his friend die today. But they both had used so much chakra…this is literally the only way to keep him alive. After this last attack he won't be able to heal his container. But he at least will allow Naruto to live. Slowly, he raised his on fist and as gently as he could, bumped knuckles with Naruto.

Naruto smiled sadly was well, not meeting Kurama's eyes. Kurama watched him turn and walk away from him, his thoughts returned to the days of when Naruto was considered his enemy. When Naruto had declared he would get rid of all of the hate inside of himself. He felt his vision fading into black as he gave Naruto the last of his chakra. His eyes lingering on Naruto's back. And with that, Kurama the Kyuubi, fell unconscious.

Naruto stood facing Sasuke. Heeding Kurama's warning, and waiting until the last second to create his Rasengan. At the same time, both of them used their remaining strength to leap at each other. While in the air, Naruto brought his hand to his side and subconsciously, he could feel all of his friend and family help create his last attack. This attack will determine the fate of the world. One attack that has collided with the almighty Chidori before. One attack that has never failed him. His blue chakra swirled in his hands as he finished creating it. He looked up at Sasuke and couldn't help but give a battle cry.

One falling…the other, rising.

Visions of their childhood flashed before the both of them, before finally settling on their current selves. Sasuke shouted as well, using as much of his strength as he possibly could to thrust his hand forward, Naruto doing the same. The two techniques collided, one trying to overpower the other, but only ending in a stalemate. The glared at each other, trying to get the upper hand but neither jutsu relented. Suddenly, a white light exploded between them, capturing them and the surrounding area in destruction and rubble.

They only watched each other. Sasuke, disappearing from Naruto's view. And Naruto, disappearing from Sasuke's view.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

In Sasuke's mind, he watched visions of his own memories. Then he proceeded to watch visions of Naruto's memories. He watched his brother converse with Naruto. He watched Naruto's struggle. He couldn't help but smile, admitting to himself that he had lost this battle. He could feel tears sliding down his face, and he could feel himself slipping into darkness. Thinking the worst of the situation. He smiled contently.

" _I'll be seeing you soon…brother."_

The sound of complete silence, except for a dripping caught his attention first. And he groggily, and slightly painfully, opened his only good eye. The first thing he saw was the night sky. Moon hanging above him, almost mockingly. He wasn't dead? Huh, how strange. He blinked a couple of times, not sure where he was. He looked around, in search for his best friend that he knew had beaten him. He grunted and flinched in pain, from his left arm. Or should he say…lack of left arm…so that's where the dripping was coming from.

"You've finally come to, eh?"

Looking past his arm, his eyes widened in shock at the sight of his best friend was what looked to be in a black bubble of sorts, laying on a ground, surrounded by concrete. He couldn't say anything as he stared at Naruto, who stared back with a slight smile on his face. Sasuke couldn't say it was a bubble as it appeared flat, but maybe more of window of sorts.

"I'm not sure what this is Sasuke…"

Naruto started but stared at him, his smile is gone and with a serious expression on his face. "But I don't think I'm in that world anymore."

Sasuke studied it, "How did that happen?"

Naruto sighed, "I'm not sure, but before you woke up, it was much bigger than this, it seems like it's gotten much smaller over time. If I were to guess, I'd say we only have a couple of minutes before it disappears all together."

Sasuke gaped, but was confused. "No rest for the wicked…huh?"

Naruto chuckled, but flinched and then coughed in pain. "Seems like it. And as you saw, if we move around too much we'll both bleed out and die."

The brunette grit is teeth in frustration. "Can't you get through?"

Naruto shook his head. Sasuke could now see the window shrinking in size. As if life was giving them the okay to each other. To say goodbye. "I can't even move enough to crawl over there. I'm in so much pain. It seems that whatever it was that transported me here has completely messed my chakra system for now."

Sasuke's eye widened. He couldn't bring himself to talk. Now that Naruto mentioned it, he looked like shit. Bags were under his eyes, and his wounds were serious. One eye swollen short, but what shocked him the most was how pale and sweaty Naruto was, probably from his chakra network being damaged. Naruto chuckled again.

"Nothing Sakura-chan couldn't fix though."

Naruto looked at Sasuke then. All sense of mirth disappearing from him. "Sasuke…before we miss this chance. Release the infinite Tsukuyomi."

Sasuke couldn't say anything for a second. But could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he realized just how much he had messed up. "Why do you keep involving yourself with me?"

Naruto studied him for a second before smiling, "You already know, don't you?"

Sasuke glared, but Naruto continued, "Now that your body can't move, your mouth sure is moving a lot."

Sasuke cut him off, "Just answer already, there's no time!"

Blue eyes turned towards him, serious this time. But Naruto smiled. "Because you're my friend."

"What does that mean though?"

Naruto didn't anything at first, but they both saw the window now was about the size of a balloon ball. "You ask me to explain it, but I really can't put it into words…It's just that…when I see you take on stuff… and you get messed up doing them… it kinda hurts me."

Sasuke's eye widened in shock. Naruto continued, looking sad. "It hurts so much inside, that I can't just leave it alone, y'know?" Sasuke almost chuckled when he heard Naruto's verbal tic rear its ugly head. But he was in too much shock. "Thought right now, I'm in a lot of pain all over, and I can't do anything about it."

Sasuke could feel some tears spring into his eyes. Naruto, just how could you be so good to him? Sasuke could relate. He knew all too well the feeling that Naruto was describing. He himself had felt the same for Naruto. Without a word, Sasuke grunted in pain as he leaned onto his wounded stump. Reach across him with is good hand.

Naruto looked confused at Sasuke, "Oi, what're you doing?"

"Just shut up and do it."

Naruto knew what Sasuke wanted to do and stared in shock for a second, but slowly a grin appeared on his face. Naruto grit his teeth and forced his body to move despite the pain of both the battle and his chakra network. Through the interdimensional window, they both clasped hands and formed the ram sign. Smiling as they instinctively felt the release the of the genjutsu Kaguya had placed the world under. Release their hands and falling back onto their backs with more pain they finally relaxed. The window was now only the size of plate and quickly shrinking.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, "I've lost."

Naruto didn't know what to say, only staring in shock. Sasuke smiled at his best friend. "But this isn't over, Naruto. Stay alive."

The window only being a size of a fist now, Naruto nodded. "I'll find a way home. That's a promise."

Sasuke felt his consciousness slipping. "I'll find a way to get you home."

With that, the two of them watched as the void between them slowly closed. The last thing either of them seeing before they passed out was the determined face of their own best friend.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Miyamoto Tadashi was walking home from work, sighing heavily. He had been investigating Shido Ichirou for a long time now, and in the results of this, his own daughter Rei had been held back a year in high school by Shido Ichirou's son, Shido Koichi. It frustrated Tadashi to no end, knowing that his daughter, his own flesh and blood, had suffered because of his own incompetence. If only he could bring down Shido faster, if only he had done it sooner. If only those bastards didn't involve his daughter. He'll never forgive them…

His thoughts were interrupted when he stepped in a puddle. He could only blink, immediately thinking about how it hadn't rained at all in the past couple of days. His eyes travelled down, and stared at the puddle his shoe was currently soaking in. His eyes widened.

Blood.

He took a step back immediately, staring at it. Undoubtedly, it was blood. His eyes followed the small stream of blood, which seemed to go into an ally way. He cautiously set his briefcase down and pulled out his hand gun. He crept up to the edge of the building, body tense and ready for anything. He pulled out a flashlight and looked out into the ally. He couldn't see any movement, so he turned on his flashlight, flickering it for any possible threat.

The light looked back and forth before settling on a bloody body. The only thing he could really see was the bloody, dirty, and shredded orange pants of this person. He gasped and walked forward carefully and quickly, noting how much blood was lost. He knelt by the body and noticed that it seemed to be a teenager, who by all means looked like he went through a blender. Injuries of all shapes and sizes were littered across his body, blood seeping from countless wounds. The most notable wound would have to be the missing limb that should have been his right arm.

Tadashi gasped, pulling out his cellphone and quickly called for an ambulance, noticing that this child was breathing, although it was ragged. He checked for a pulse as well and noticed that it was still strong somehow. As his phone rang he quickly took note of the boys other features. Such as three whisker marks along his cheeks, giving him an exotic look. His bright blond hair, appeared to be natural, going all the way into the root of his hair and his eyebrows matched. If his hair wasn't as dirty and matted down with blood and mud, he was sure that it would be a very vibrant color.

Finally, someone answered the phone. Tadashi almost yelled out at them. "Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance ASAP down here, it looks like someone is on the verge of death…What?...No I have no clue what the hell happened, I just found him….Okay…Okay… thank you. We are in an ally way, on the corner of block 62…yes…thank you."

Tadashi hung up the phone and took his tie off, going to the other side of the blonde, quickly tying his tie around the stump as tight as he could, affectively halting the bleeding. Tadashi took this moment to grab his briefcase on the sidewalk and bring it closer to the blond. He put his gun back in his halter, but kept the flashlight on, shining it deeper into the ally, making sure nothing suspicious was there. Nothing was.

He looked back at the blond, noticed scorch marks in the ally way, looking like there was a ball of fire blasted right where the unknown person lied. He inspected the rest of the teen in front of him, noticing the mesh shirt, which was all torn up as well. He noticed something tied to his thigh and looked inside of it, surprised to see that it was a holster for weapons. Knives more like, he pulled one out and his eyes widened when he recognized the ancient weapon known as a kunai. Only this one was different. He pulled out the remainder of the kunai and counted a total of six.

One kunai however was different than the others. Its handle was wrapped and had odd kanji going all the way around it. It also had three prongs, seemingly impractical. Tadashi was relieved when he heard the sirens of the ambulance suddenly break his thoughts. Quickly, he untied the weapon holster and place it in his briefcase. He'd give it back eventually, but having the paramedics finding that wouldn't be the best for the boy. He quickly searched the rest of his body for any more weapons, finding that he couldn't find anything else.

He sighed in relief when the ambulance found them and parked on the side walk. Tadashi stood up and let them take over. He glanced down at the blonde. When he recovers from his wounds, he'll have to have a talk with this strange boy.

That's one thing he knew for sure.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto groaned slightly, hearing silence. His eyes flickered open, seeing a white tiled ceiling above him. The first thought that came to his head, was that he was thirsty. Naruto tried to swallow some saliva, but it just wasn't enough. He turned his head to the side, and stared at an open window, the sun was shining outside. He blinked.

" _Where am I?"_

Naruto closed his eyes, recalled the events of the past few days, remembering the war, the fight against Madara, the fight against Kaguya, him talking with the Sage of the Six Paths…His fight with Sasuke…his goodbye with Sasuke. He opened his eyes again, well only just the one eye really.

" _Oh. So I'm in a different world, huh?"_

His whole body was sore, but he looked down and stared at himself. His right arm hurt. Or should he say that his stump hurt. He noted that he was in a hospital gown, but almost every inch of his skin was covered in bandages. Oh yeah, that's right. That bastard Sasuke gave him a good beat down. Naruto smiled, despite the situation.

He heard footsteps and looked up towards the door, seeing an attractive lady walk in, not noticing he was awake, and walk to the edge of the bed. She was wearing pant scrubs and a scrub top, both of them being black and looking comfortable. Her dark brown hair was in a ponytail, keeping her hair out of her face from her work. Naruto watched as she walked to, what looked to be a computer. He had seen very few of them in the science labs in Konoha. But this time it seemed much smaller, more compact. He frowned as she typed away at the computer then finally turned her attention to him.

As she turned to him, she squeaked out, noticing that he was watching her. Her face got red and she put a hand her chest. "Oh my god, you scared me to death."

She calmed her breathing as Naruto blinked, registering quietly to himself that he understood what she had said. What are the chances that this world speaks the same language as his? Naruto cleared his throat, although quite painful for him to do even that.

"A-ano."

She looked at him, smiling gently. "Ah, I'm sorry. Good afternoon. I'm Miyamizu."

Naruto stared at her, "Naruto…Uzumaki Naruto."

She smiled brightly and Naruto couldn't help but think that it was a pretty smile. Unburdened. Polite. "Uzumaki-san. Alright. Do you remember where you are?"

Naruto looked around, of course he knew he was in a hospital, but there was no way he could admit that he was from a different world. And of course, BECAUSE he was from a different world, he couldn't tell her where he was. He shook his head no.

Her smile never faulted. "Do you know what year it is?"

Naruto shook his head again. He wasn't sure how this world dated itself. "I-" He had to clear his throat again, getting rid of the dryness "I don't remember anything."

Of course he lied. He didn't want to be seen as a loony in this world!

This time however, she frowned. "Oh, really? Your chart didn't mention any concussion or head injury…" She muttered the last part to herself more than anything.

Naruto decided to ignore that however and spoke up, "I'm sorry, but I'm really thirsty, could I get some water?"

The lady smiled, and nodded, leaving the room for a minute than walking back in with a mug filled with ice and water. Naruto tried to sit up but her hand on his shoulder held him down. He winced in pain, accepting the truth that he was probably stuck in bed for a while. He was surprised to see a straw appear in his face. He looked over at Miyamizu, surprised.

She was smiling again, holding the mug and straw in front of his mouth. "Here, drink."

Naruto tilted his head to the side and drank the water, sucking it down. It was cold and delicious. It felt good on his throat. He kept drinking until he needed a breath of air. He sighed in content, leaning his head back against the pillow. He absently noticed that there was some sort of instrument inside of his arm. It was connected to tubes flowing up to some bags hanging on a pole next to his bed. He blinked. The hospital at home didn't have something like that.

"Ano. Where am I?"

Miyamizu set the mug down, "You're in Tokonosu Hospital. This is currently the Intensive Care Unit. You've been here for two days now."

Naruto blinked in surprise. He should have expected to be tired, since he literally just finished a way back home. His thoughts were interrupted. "Uzumaki-san, do you remember what happened to you?"

Naruto frowned, of course he remembers how he got all of his injuries. But once again, telling her that fighting, basically to the death with his best friend to prevent him from killing the five Kage of his world and prevailing in saving world peace was the answer to how he was so damaged, would frankly be a bad idea. He decided to half tell the truth.

"No, I have no idea how I got here."

She nodded, "A man found you in an ally way. Quite honestly, you shouldn't even be alive right now, with the extent of your injuries and the amount of blood you've lost." Naruto smiled faintly, sweat dropping. _"I've heard that before."_

Miyamizu waved her hand, "Anyway, I have a few things that I need to do in here, but first, seeing as you're hurting, how would you rate your pain right now?"

Naruto frowned. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, "Your pain right now, 0 being nothing and 10 being the worst pain you could possibly imagine…where would your pain fall under? I can get you some pain medicine to take the edge off."

Naruto smiled gratefully, if he could move his arm, he'd probably scratch the back of his head. "Um, I guess sitting still I'm like at a 4, but when I try moving I'd say…6?"

She blinked, studying him for a second. "Uzumaki-san…"

Naruto grinned at her, "Ah, just Naruto is fine."

This seemed to pause her for a second. Finally, she smiled, her first genuine smile since she's been in there, "Alright…Naruto… You have quite a high tolerance for pain don't you?"

Naruto shrugged, ignoring the pain that doing that caused him. "Never really thought about it, y'know?"

She giggled, and started to walk out of the room, "Alright Naruto, I'll go get you some pain medicine, okay?"

He nodded as she left and he leaned his head back again, resting it. He stared forward with a blank expression on his face. He finally let himself think about the situation. Kurama is currently sleeping for an unknown amount of time recovering. He is in a completely different world, not knowing a single thing about it other than they somehow speak the same language as him. His chakra network is currently completely messed up and he's recovering unusually slowly (for him) from near fatal wounds that has left him hardly able to move, much less walk. He sighed. And to top it off, he has absolutely no clue HOW to approach the topic of even attempting to get home.

This situation sucks.

He felt…weak. Not a feeling that he has felt recently. Especially since getting back from his training with Ero-sennin. From the bare minimum that Naruto has seen so far, he can assume that technology in this world is more advanced than his, and the ONE person he has come in contact with seemed to have no chakra other than the bare minimum to survive. But even she could probably kill him if she wanted to, at least while he's in this state. He sighed, closing his eye. His energy that he had seemed suddenly depleted, and he decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to go back to sleep…

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

"-ki-san…Uzumaki-san."

He felt his shoulder shake gently, someone was doing it. His sole eye fluttered open, groaning slightly. Drearily he looked around, noticing Miyamizu was standing next to him again, smiling politely. He swallowed the drool in his mouth.

"What is it?"

"Naruto, you have a visitor."

 _This_ caught Naruto's attention and he suddenly felt very awake. Who on earth could be visiting him? He doesn't know anybody, he didn't say anything as she turned towards the door and gently called for the person to enter.

Naruto watched closely, on edge, as the man walked into the room. He had dark brown hair, orange eyes, and a brown mustache. He looked to be around 185 cm tall, and was decently built. Maybe he was around his mid-40s as well. Naruto studied him, he didn't seem to be a threat and had no aura of ill intent. He relaxed slightly. But for the love of god, he didn't recognize this man at all.

"Hello." He bowed slightly, and Naruto gave him a nod of his own, seeing that he couldn't bow currently. "My name is Miyamoto Tadashi, I am the one who found you and called for an ambulance."

Naruto's eye widened in surprise. He definitely wasn't expecting that person to come back to see him. He watched as the man, now known as Tadashi nodded to the nurse. "Could we have some privacy please?"

She nodded and headed out the door, closing it on her way out. Naruto watched as he pulled out a chair and sat next to Naruto's bed. Tadashi offered the teen a small smile. "You know it's proper to introduce yourself as well…"

Naruto felt himself blush in embarrassment, he chuckled awkwardly. "Ah, sorry, I was just surprised. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Tadashi frowned, "Surprised? At what?"

Naruto sheepishly looked away, "I really didn't think that anyone would visit me."

This caught the middle aged man off guard. He voiced his questions, "Why would you think that? Do your parents know you're here?"

"Oh, no. My parents are dead."

Whatever Tadashi was expecting; it certainly was not that. He felt extremely awkward now, coughing slightly into his hand. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear."

Naruto waved him off with his only hand, "It's no big deal, they've been dead since as long as I can remember."

"No foster parents?"

"Nope!" Naruto grinned at him. "Just me."

Tadashi stared at him, long and hard. Thinking about something, but Naruto wasn't entirely sure what he could possibly be thinking of. Naruto squirmed a little under such an intense stare from the man.

"Naruto."

Naruto gulped, he almost felt like he was in trouble for something. "A-ah, yes?"

"Do you have somewhere to live?"

He blinked. Not at all what he was thinking that the old man would ask him. It was surprising indeed. "Uh, no? I guess."

I mean, technically he would be homeless in this world. Naruto just realized. He has no money, no shelter, no source of income and currently no food or water except what was given to him at the hospital. He realized that his situation suddenly seemed worse now. Shit.

"How old are you, Naruto-kun?"

Tadashi was sincerely asking, a small smile on his face. It was a kind face, full of warmth. He couldn't help but smile back. "17."

"Would you like to stay with my family and I for a while? Until you get on your feet that is?"

Naruto gaped, opening and closing his mouth several times. What kind of person would just offer their home to a complete stranger? What kind of world is this? Naruto felt suspicious, there had to be another reason, right? He narrowed his blue eye at the man.

"What's the catch?"

Tadashi seemed to have expected that, because his smile widened. "I just want to know what happened to you."

Oh. That seemed plausible. Not like the man would believe him anyway. Naruto grinned at him. "Sure! Thanks for having me, Jii-san"

Tadashi suddenly felt his eye twitch. This brat. He forced a smile. He stood up, "Good. Naruto-kun I have to leave now, but I will visit every day, and when you are released in two days I will be here to pick you up to live at my place. Do you have any possessions?"

Naruto shook his head, he really only had the clothes off of his back with him. He really seemed like a mess here. But how could anyone blame him? How was HE supposed to know that he'd suddenly be teleported into another world? Naruto scowled. How unfortunate.

"I'll get you some clothes too. Nothing fancy. Do you know what size you might be?"

Naruto scratched his head, tilting it. "Um. I'm not sure. The nurse said I'm 180 cm though. Does that help?"

Tadashi sighed. While it only helped a little, he assumed Naruto was around a size Medium. He'll only get him a few things, not a lot, but enough. "A little. I'll be back tomorrow Naruto-kun. Behave while you're here."

Naruto nodded and grinned at the man. "Thanks, Jii-san! It means a lot!"

The middle-aged man left the room and walked out of the hospital. Leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts. Naruto was glad that out of anyone he could have been helped by, it was that guy. He was nice. Naruto looked out of the room, smiling slightly. Worrying about his situation wouldn't do much right now. Especially since his chakra network was so messed up, he couldn't even start to _attempt_ to figure out a way home. So he'll just have to enjoy the ride for now.

Two days came and went quickly, Naruto finally healed enough to be able to move around easily enough. Which surprised almost everyone. Naruto was an incredibly quick healer, but the extent of his injuries should have put any normal person down for at the bare minimum…a month. Or in fact it should have just killed a normal person. But Naruto was no normal person, that they weren't aware of.

He currently wore the clothes that Tadashi had bought Naruto, somehow fitting comfortably. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, with socks and tennis shoes. He had a plain black t-shirt on and a plain black zip up hoodie over that. The zipper was red, and it had two pins stripes going down the sleeves that were red. The pocket linings were also red. It was simple and comfortable.

Naruto, surprisingly enough, found it difficult to dress himself with only one hand. Much to his embarrassment, the current nurse, who wasn't Miyamizu since it wasn't her shift to work today, had helped him get dressed. And bringing in a wheelchair for him to be wheeled out. Naruto accepted gratefully.

When Naruto left the hospital, he was surprised to see what this world was like. He watched as several people walked into the hospital, talking on small square devices in their hands that they had up to their ears. He blinked and saw a metal…carriage in front of him. Several more of these carriages had…wheeled(?) by. He was shocked as well at how tall most of the buildings were in this world.

Tadashi watched as Naruto looked at everything in awe. He could feel deep down inside of him that Naruto wasn't normal. That something about him just was…off. He had no idea what it was at this moment, but he was hoping that Naruto could elaborate once they got to his house. He had talked to his wife, Kiriko, about Naruto staying with them and she had accepted the proposal, fully aware of her husbands need to help people. It doesn't help that Tadashi had become slightly attached to the young male. He's always wanted a son, and now here is one that needed help. Fatherly help. Tadashi had to take responsibility.

He opened the front door for Naruto, watching as the recently recovered teen easily climbed into the seat, looking at the dashboard with wonder. He couldn't stop a smile from stretching his lips. This boy is either been living under a rock or is an idiot. Could be both.

He walked over to his side and climbed in, turning the car on. "Ready to go home, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grinned excitedly. "Of course! Take us away!"

Tadashi pointed at Naruto, "Put your seatbelt on first."

"Seatbelt?" The blonde muttered and looked behind him, confused. Tadashi shook his head and leaned over Naruto, grabbing the strap.

"Put the metal part into this buckle here." He pointed at the separate contraptions. Naruto did as he was told and his mouth shaped into an 'o'

"Ne, Jii-san?" Tadashi raised an eyebrow, signaling for Naruto to continue. "What does this 'seatbelt' do anyway?"

Sighing Tadashi put the vehicle in drive and took off. "In case we crash, it protects you from flying out of your seat and dying. It's a safety precaution."

Naruto nodded, adjusting the strap so it wasn't resting on his stump. "Oh, I see." He smirked at the brunette. "You're not gonna crash are ya?"

Tadashi shot him a playful glare, "Don't doubt me, kid. I'm a very good driving."

Naruto chuckled softly, opting to not saying anything else but to study his surroundings more.

The ride was quiet, Tadashi amused by watching Naruto. And Naruto amused by the world around him. His initial assumption was correct, this world was _far_ more advanced than his world. Something he'd have to get used to. The overall ride took about 25 minutes. Stopping at various lights, Naruto studied every single person who was pulled up next to them. He was surprised to see so many different people. He couldn't stop the giant grin on his face. From excitement. Some people were talking on those square devices, some people looked to be singing to something, and others just stoically looked a head. There was once where Naruto was spotted by a child and they proceeded to make faces at each other for their short stop.

Tadashi couldn't stop his own smile from his face, seeing Naruto's reactions to everything was just amusing. It was clear that he has never seen something like this. Something so ordinary to the average person, was so amazing to someone like Naruto. He couldn't help but think to himself how he had taken it for granted. But Naruto's reactions had only confirmed his suspicions more. Naruto was clearly not from around here. And was from an area that was limited technology. He spoke perfect Japanese, so he wasn't sure if there really was a place in Japan that was like a Third World Country. It raised many questions on how Naruto could have even gotten into the city. Or how Naruto had arrived broken and beaten in the middle of an ally, knocking on death's door.

Tadashi pulled into his neighborhood and drove up his driveway. He unbuckled his seatbelt and helped Naruto do the same, since Naruto didn't know how to operate it. Naruto nodded in gratitude. Both of them walking up to the door. Tadashi opened the door and took off his shoes, slipping into his house shoes. Naruto blinked and followed suit.

"I'm home."

Tadashi had called out, ushering for Naruto to follow him. Naruto did as he was told, looking around the house and couldn't help but smile. It was warm, friendly. It comforted him. He turned the corner into what appeared to be a dining room and blinked as Tadashi walked up to an attractive woman with light brown, shoulder length hair. She smiled at him, and Naruto noticed, that she had dark brown eyes that looked serious, but warm and full of life. He couldn't help his own smile on his face.

"Oh darling, you're home. I just finished preparing dinner." Her eyes looked past her husbands and landed on the blonde. She smiled at the teen walking up to him. "Ah, you must be Naruto-kun! Tadashi has told me everything about you! You poor thing, being that injured and losing an arm on top of that, you must be pretty devastated."

Naruto was surprised, and slightly embarrassed. He blushed slightly at the attention. "Ah, thank you for having me, your husband is a very nice man. I'm lucky he found me." Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head.

She held out a hand, the left hand, for Naruto to shake. "I'm Kiriko, pleased to meet you."

Naruto shook her hand, "Pleased to meet you."

One thing that Naruto has noticed about this world that he can honestly say surprised him, was how much tradition and politeness was enforced in this world. He'll never understand that, and he tends to ignore that step. But even so, not many people were like this back home. It definitely was a change of pace.

Kiriko started to lead Naruto to the table, which had four plates set on it. "Hear have a seat, conserve your energy. Dinner will be ready in a minute. Darling?"

Tadashi, who was at the counter, caught red handed holding a piece of chicken in his mouth, blinked in surprise. He quickly stood up straight and hid the chicken behind his back. "Y-yes?"

Kiriko suddenly developed an evil aura around her as she gave a very polite smile to her husband, hand covering her mouth slightly. "Have you washed your hands yet since coming home?"

Naruto felt fear creep up his spine and he shuddered, glad he wasn't on the receiving end of such a frightening presence. However just as he was thinking that, Kiriko turned her malice to Naruto.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, don't think I would leave you out. Please go wash your hands."

Suddenly all of the malice was gone and she blinked. She blushed, embarrassed. "Um, I'm sorry that was inconsiderate of me."

Naruto stared, confused. "What was inconsiderate?"

She frowned, "Of your arm…"

Naruto looked down at his stump and realization dawned on him. He laughed. "Oh this? Don't worry about it, I completely forgot. It's no big deal anyway." He grinned at her, trying to comfort her.

It seemed to work as Kiriko smiled apologetically before nodding. "I'll just go get Rei-chan then for dinner then we can feast."

Kiriko walked out of the room, and Naruto turned to Tadashi who was wiping his hands now, and munching on another piece of chicken. He sat down at the head of the table. "She's a wonderful person and I love her to death, but she is more terrifying than being held at gun point."

Naruto laughed, "I can see that. She seems lovely though."

Tadashi smiled at him, "Thank you."

A minute of silence later, and two sets of feet were making their way into the room, Naruto looked at the entrance to see Kiriko walk in, and began to set the table with the food. Naruto however was focused on the form of the girl behind her. He couldn't help but gape.

She had light brown hair, which was currently down, flowing over her shoulders and down to her breasts. Her skin was flawless, and she had on the most natural, complimenting make-up, enhancing her already natural beauty. Her hair had bangs that framed her face, but was almost untamable it seemed, seeing as she had two loose strands fly up and forward, like antenna. Her eyes were dark orange, and curious. She was staring right at him. Naruto couldn't help but think that she was beautiful.

He absentmindedly looked at Tadashi then her. _"How can this old geezer have a daughter that looks like that?"_

Rei on the other hand was also staring at Naruto, in curiosity. Their guest had the brightest, yellowest blond hair that she's ever seen, and she could tell it was natural. He was lightly tanned, with a lean face. On his cheeks were three lines that resembled whiskers, which she couldn't help but think that they were a little adorable. He had a bandage under his left eye, which sported a nice shiner. She couldn't help but notice bandages under his black shirt. But she couldn't help but notice just how wonderfully blue Naruto's eyes were. It was like the ocean. Deep and blue. She's never seen eyes that pure before, and she was getting lost in them. They seemed to sparkle somehow, despite being their color.

"Alright everyone eat up."

Kiriko's voice broke the two of them from their staring contest. Naruto suddenly lit up and Rei blushed in embarrassment. She sat down, next to Naruto, and proceeded to serve herself. Naruto doing the same, as drool almost fell from his mouth. He picked up his chopsticks with is left and struggled to hold them. Over this past week he could honestly say that he's having a rather difficult time learning how to use his other hand for everything. He hasn't even attempted writing anything yet. His struggle wasn't lost on the rest of the family.

Rei, for the first time, noticed Naruto's lack of arm. She could only stare in pity at the recovering blond. She couldn't imagine how much pain he must be in. Kiriko also was taking pity on the blond. She suddenly smirked devilishly.

"Oh Naruto-kun, it looks like you're struggling there! Rei-chan why don't you help him eat his food?"

She smiled sweetly at her daughter who suddenly looked at her, horrified.

"Okaa-san!"

Naruto chuckled and put down his chopsticks, "Ah, thanks for offering Kiriko-san, but I gotta learn how to do this eventually, y'know?" He scratched the back of his head, blushing slightly, "Besides I'm sure Rei-san would want to eat her food instead of helping me."

Rei blushed, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed by him calling her by her first name. She glared at her mother, "You heard what he said, Okaa-san. Uzumaki-kun has to learn how to do it himself."

Naruto grinned at her, "Please just call me Naruto, I'm not a fan of formality."

Rei looked horrified however, "I can't do that! People would talk and it would be so embarrassing."

"'People would talk'?" Naruto echoed, tilted his head. He was confused. "What would they talk about?"

Tadashi and Kiriko looked amused between the two of them. Rei however was less than amused. "They'd talk about us of course!"

Naruto frowned still struggling to see the point. "But why would they talk about us? And what would they talk about?"

"They would think that we might know each other on a personal level."

Naruto closed his eyes, "But we do don't we?"

Rei couldn't believe him, she honestly thought that he was cute a minute ago? Is this the same person? "We've only just met!"

"Ah!" Naruto raised a finger, "But we met in person didn't we?"

Rei groaned "Are you an idiot or something?"

Kiriko frowned, seeing her daughter's frustration but it wasn't acceptable for her to be calling their guests names. Or insulting them. She wasn't sure if Naruto was being serious, but even still, her daughter had to be polite. "Rei-chan don't talk about our guests like that."

Naruto giggled into his hand, "Relax, I was teasing. I knew exactly what you meant."

Rei gaped, completely baffled. She heard her father break out into laughter and her mother giggling, while Naruto continued to struggle to feed himself. He noticed her stare and grinned playfully at her. She felt her eyebrow twitch. So this is the person who has raised her father's mood in the past week? She sighed, giving up on this conversation before feeding herself. Out of the corner of her eye though, she continued to watch their guest.

Kiriko proceeded to ask Tadashi about his day, but Rei studied the blond, who was now oblivious to the world. Solely focusing on attempting to feed himself with his left hand. She sort of felt bad for him still. Naruto finally got a piece in his mouth and happily munched on it.

"So Naruto-kun." Her attention was drawn to her mother who was smiling at the blond. "Tell us a bit about yourself."

Naruto finished chewing and swallowed, thinking about what he could tell them. He thought back to when Kakashi-sensei had asked for introductions. "Hmmm, well as you know, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like to train, I love ramen, and I like all my precious people." That in turn had earned a few confused stares, especially from Tadashi, who had assumed he was currently alone in the world. Naruto continued. "I dislike the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, I don't like selfish people, I hate people who lie to themselves and I don't like people who don't value friendship." Naruto frowned thinking about the last three things.

The Miyamoto family however wasn't expecting that. Rei bit her lip and looked to the side, avoiding any looks with anyone. It seems like there's more than meets the eye when it comes to Naruto. That he was just a blonde haired goofball.

Naruto continued. "My hobbies are…I guess training, and spending time with friends. And my dreams for the future…" Naruto paused. He didn't want to say exactly that he wanted to be Hokage because they wouldn't know what a Hokage would be. Naruto decided to settle for a short term goal instead. "My dream for the future I guess would be to get home."

He grinned at the table, picking up some more food and biting it.

"Hmmmm." Tadashi mutter while fiddling with his mustache. "Home, you say? Where exactly are you from Naruto-kun?"

Naruto hummed himself. "A small village, hidden away from people. My friends are all back there probably worried about me."

"As they should be." Kiriko picked up, "Not to mention you suddenly are in the city with life threatening wounds. How did you receive them?"

Naruto paused, not quite sure how to respond. I mean he very well couldn't say that he was in a battle of life and death for the fate of the world, now could he? He swallowed his food and decided to play it off. He laughed sheepishly, "Ah, me and my best friend kind of got into a fight…"

Their reactions surprised him. Rei looked absolutely shell shocked, Kiriko was gaping and Tadashi seemed confused. "Those types of wounds don't come from a simple fight… I mean you lost a limb for Christ's sake."

Naruto laughed sheepishly, "Well we got carried away…"

They all understood that Naruto wasn't telling the whole truth. He was stubbornly not telling them. They decided to leave it at that. Rei however picked up a question, surprisingly.

"Uzumaki-kun, was it painful? Your injuries…"

Naruto puffed up his chest, "Well yeah they hurt, but I'm tough as nails! A few scratches aren't enough to keep me down for long." He chuckled softly, closing his eyes and giving his patented foxy grin. Rei blushed slightly seeing it. She closed her eyes, thinking about her boyfriend, and how she definitely should NOT be acting like this to someone she just met.

Kiriko looked at him with interest, "Tough guy huh?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "I have to be! I gotta be strong to protect my precious people, y'know?"

Tadashi tilted his head, "You've mentioned that several times, 'protecting your precious people'…what's that mean to you?"

At this Naruto's face dropped down into a small smile. This garnered the attention of the Miyamoto family. There was silence for a few minutes before Naruto finally decided to speak.

"The first time I was out of my village, I had met a couple interesting people. One was a mercenary, and the other accompanied him everywhere he went. I was in the forest when I had met the younger one, who at the time I thought was a girl." Naruto chuckled, blushing in embarrassment slightly. "I mean I couldn't help it, he was in a kimono, had long black hair and was pretty! No way I wouldn't think so." He shook his head, "Anyway he was telling me about his friend. Who at the time thought of him as a tool. Something to be used, then discarded. He told me that he wanted to protect the person precious to him. He said he wanted to work for that person. He wanted to fight for that person. He wanted to make that person's dream come true, because that was his dream."

The room was quiet, listening to Naruto's tale. Naruto smiled, "He had told me that when a person has something precious they want to protect…that's when they can become truly strong."

Suddenly Naruto grinned at them, "So the people I consider precious to me are the ones I want to protect with my life."

Kiriko was serious, "That's a very mature thing to think about, Naruto-kun. I'm glad you are able to understand such a thing."

Naruto blushed, "Yeah, well it was easy for me to learn since I hold all of my friends dear to me. I never had a family when I was younger, so I was always lonely."

"You were an orphan?" Rei asked, genuinely curious.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, "They died when I was born."

"Oh." Rei lowered her head, feeling like stuffing her foot in her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Naruto smiled at her, "It's nothing to apologize about, I know that they loved me very much."

An awkward silence fell through the room; even Naruto could pick up on it. He coughed slightly and decided to change the topic. "So Rei," He turned to her, "Tell me about yourself!"

Rei blinked, "What do you want to know?"

The blonde shrugged, "I dunno. Anything you want to share?"

Rei thought for a minute. "Well, I'm a student at Fujimi Academy. I'm a part of the Sojutsu club there. I'm a straight A student, and I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend." She mumbled off at the last second, for some reason embarrassed to mention the love of her life. "That's all there is to it, I guess."

At this Naruto looked interested, "Boyfriend, eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, grinning. "What's _he_ like?"

She actually giggled, slightly surprised that he continued to ask about him. "His name is Igou Hisashi." She smiled, "He's handsome and nice. But he's calm and collected, able to keep a clear mind in any situation." She smiled fondly thinking about her boyfriend. "We've been dating for a few months now. He's very loyal to his friends and to me. I'm very thankful to have him."

She looked up at Naruto and was surprised to see him smiling gently, his attention was 100% on her and what she was saying. Something that threw her off a little bit. "Ehhhh?" He mumbled gently, still staring at her. "Sounds like you really like him. Sounds like you're a lucky girl to get such a good guy."

At this everyone was surprised to hear that. Normally nobody says that about the girl. They always say the guys lucky. But surprisingly they all knew he didn't mean it like he was insulting Rei. It was more of a compliment if anything. Rei blushed heavily, thinking about her boyfriend, and smiling because there was finally a guy who could understand her feelings instead of being jealous.

"So what's this Fujimi Academy like?"

Rei tilted her head, thinking about it. "Well, it's school so…I guess it's like school."

Tadashi chuckled, "Don't stress to hard about it Rei-chan. Naruto-kun will find out shortly for himself."

At this both Naruto and Rei gaped at him, Rei shook her head, "What are you saying Uzumaki-kun is going to my school?"

Naruto looked horrified, "BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL!"

Animated tears started running down his face, while he raised his hand up to the sky crying out. "What have I done to deserve this?!"

Tadashi smiled, "Well we surely can't have you running around with nothing to do, Naruto-kun. Who knows what kind of mess you'll get into."

Kiriko nodded, agreeing. "Darling is right. A teenager's studies should be the top priority of their life. Even for you, Naruto-kun."

He felt like crying. He was sure that somewhere, the Sage of the Six Paths was laughing at him. He was sure of it. He stood up and pointed an accusing finger at Tadashi.

"This is what you've been planning this whole time, hasn't it been Jii-san! I'VE BEEN TRAPT! KIDNAPPED! HELP! SOMEONE SAVE ME!"

Naruto started to run for the door, before I was caught by the neck by Tadashi himself, who was enjoying a healthy laugh. Kiriko and Rei were both laughing, wiping tears from the corner of their eyes from the misfortune of the blond. Naruto cried as Tadashi pointed at his seat again.

"Get used to it, brat. Life's unfair. You'll start school in two days. Got it?"

Naruto hung his head in defeat, not believing his own luck. " _yes_ " he mumbled.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow, holding a hand next to his ear. "What was that? I couldn't hear you?"

Naruto raised his head, still crying. "I said Yes! I understand!"

Tadashi chuckled. To himself. "Good."

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

End of Chapter 1. I hope you all enjoy. This is something I've been wanting to write for a long time, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. For whatever reason. I'll be updating all my other books shortly.


	2. Chapter 2

I just want to say that I DO NOT own either Naruto or Highschool of the Dead. And I hope you like the book. Please Read and Review! Thank you everyone for reviewing! It helps a lot and makes me feel really good haha. Anyone just to quell the fear. Naruto will not be nerfed at all! But he won't be buffed from his cannon self at all. I've read too many fictions where he suddenly has the Rinnegan and that bothers me. But for the moment, Naruto has one arm, no Kurama, and a messed up chakra network. He's….limited for now. That's all.

Pairings: NarutoxHarem

" **Speaking."** Kyuubi speaking

" _ **Thinking."**_ Kyuubi thinking

"Speaking." Person speaking

" _Thinking."_ Person thinking

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

 **Deceiving The Apocalypse**

CHAPTER 2

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Life at the Miyamoto residence had, since then, suddenly become more lively.

A certain blonde haired ninja had literally wormed his way into their life and hearts, for Tadashi and Kiriko, they now think of him as a second son. For Rei…a complete and utter source of frustration. Turns out, the mischievous Jinchuuriki had found that pranking, and teasing the light haired brunette was the most fun he could have while being temporarily taken out of combat. Or so he had said once to her.

It's only been _two days_ , god dammit.

But however, today was the day that Naruto would finally get out of the house. He was excited to leave, but much less excited to be leaving for _school_. The treacherous word that chilled him to his very core. Naruto has known that he has always been a poor student. Much better at learning hands on. He does poorly when trying to have him sit still for long periods of time, or when trying to explain concept and technique. Naruto and school do NOT go together. At least that's what Naruto has been saying for the past 48 hours.

But just because he has to face his dreaded lifelong enemy, does NOT mean he isn't excited to leave the house. Currently the blond was standing at the entrance, bouncing on his feet and wearing the Fujimi Academy school uniform. Tadashi had already left for work, but Kiriko was smiling at him, apparently seeing him off for the day.

"Rei-chaaaaaaan~! Hurry up or we'll be late~!"

Naruto called out loudly, and with a singsong voice. Footsteps could be heard as Rei descended from her room. She sighed when she heard Naruto yell. He had way too much energy for it being so early in the morning.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming."

She rounded the corner to the exit when she paused, seeing the source of her frustrations and thoughts recently stand in front of her grinning from ear to ear. She almost blushed seeing him. In the past couple of days, Rei had decided that Naruto was undoubtedly _hot_. He had literally exploded into her life with such force that now she couldn't think what life would be without him. But because of this, it had seriously confused her about her own feelings, which even before he had arrived were way out of control and confusing. Now It's an utter mess.

Naruto stood there in the black pants, an orange undershirt, and the black school jacket had actually complimented his exotic looks. His tan skin and bright blond hair contrasted the dark uniform bringing out his handsome features. It also doesn't help that when he looks at her it's like she feels like she's the only person in the world to him. Nobody has ever looked at her like that.

But thank god that Naruto was as dense as a doorknob.

Naruto bounced up to her and invaded her personal space, this time receiving a blush from her. "Ready to go, Rei-chan?"

She sighed, but smiled. "You're just too much to handle, Naruto."

Yes, within the last two days, Naruto had somehow convinced to call him by his first name. "But once we're at school, I'm not calling you Naruto, remember?"

He pouted, "Awww come on, it took so long and now you betray my feelings!" He turned around and pretended to cry.

Rei coughed on her spit, "Y-your feelings?!"

He turned around grinning at her, "Just kidding~! Now let's go _Miyamoto_ or we'll be late to school!" He laughed and left out the front door.

Rei placed a hand on her chest, calming herself before her eyebrow twitched and she growled dangerously.

"Naaa-rrruuuuu-tooooo!"

His laughter could be heard from outside as she chased him down.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Komuro Takashi was in his class, school started not very long ago, they were in the middle of Modern Japanese currently. His eyes had drifted over to his childhood friend and crush. Miyamoto Rei. She had been acting strangely these past couple of days. She's been distracted even when she's around her _beloved_ boyfriend Hisashi. Takashi couldn't help but hope that maybe they were going through a rough spot in their relationship. He knew it was selfish and an awful thing to hope for, but he just couldn't help it. He sighed resting his head on his hand as he stared blankly down at his notes.

A knock on the door had interrupted his own thoughts and, like everyone's, his eyes drifted towards the door. The principal had walked in, several people started to whisper among themselves, questioning why the principal was there. The modern Japanese teacher nodded after the principal had whispered a few things to him. The principal awkwardly waved to all of them before stepping out of the hallway.

"Ahem. It seems like we have a new transfer student today. Come in!"

Takashi tilted his head, confused. A transfer student? This late in the year? The door opened once again, and Takashi's eyes widened in surprise. Walking up in front of everyone was a teen with uncontrollably spikey bright blond hair. He was lean, not bulky at all, but looked fit. He had lightly tanned skin and a bright grin on his face. Three scars on each cheek that kind of looked like whisker marks, giving him an exotic look. And lastly, they noticed the bright blue eyes glimmering at them all. One could get lost in those eyes. Whispers broke out in the class room.

"Oh, he's _cute_."

"Wow, he's tall."

"He kind of looks like a delinquent."

"You think he drew those lines on his face?"

"His eyes are dreamy."

The blonde cleared his throat, lowering his grin into a smile. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, pleased to meet you!"

He bowed slightly to the class, then gave them a wink and peace sign. The teacher nodded. "Ah thank you Uzumaki-kun, please go sit down in that open seat next Takagi-san. If you have any questions please ask her after class, because she is the class representative."

Naruto nodded then walked to where Takagi, Takashi's childhood friend, but NOT his crush, was sitting. Naruto sat down next to the pinkette and smiled over to her, extending his only hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto."

Saya stared at the hand for a second before grasping it. "Takagi Saya." Was all she said before she returned her attention back to the sensei. Naruto chuckled lightly before pulling out a notebook and a pen, holding the pen awkwardly in his left hand.

The sensei continued his lesson, and effectively confusing Naruto already. He really didn't care how well he did in school since none of this would matter when he goes back to Konoha. Naruto almost sighed, thinking about his home. Kurama had yet to wake up, and his chakra network was still messed up. Although his wounds have healed he felt like a part of him was missing. And he's NOT talking about the missing limb. He missed his chakra. And he missed his home. This time he did sigh.

"Uzumaki-kun, are you having trouble with the lesson?"

Naruto sat up straight, here his name and blinked. He blushed in embarrassment and shook his head. "A-ah, no sensei. I'm just struggling to take notes since I recently lost my dominant arm." To emphasize his point, Naruto held up said stump.

Several people gasped in the room at seeing the sleeve of his school jacket slump downward, revealing the lack of limb. Naruto internally laughed. Ah the greatest way to get out of trouble with the teacher was to play the pity card. He'll have to abuse this as long as possible.

Outwardly Naruto smiled sheepishly, "I've just started to learn how to write with my left hand so I'm sorry if my homework looks like a mess as well."

Naruto let out an evil laugh inside his head. Now he'll have an excuse to get out of his homework as well. Rei, from the corner of the room deadpanned at Naruto.

" _That bastard is abusing his disabled quality to slack off during school!"_ She decided to try and kill him with her eyes.

Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine as he could literally feel killing intent come from somewhere in the room. He flicked his eyes over shoulder and saw Rei glaring daggers at him in the corner. He smirked at her and gave her the victory sign. The vein in her forehead popped out as she gnashed her teeth in frustration at the blond.

" _I swear I'll murder him."_ Rei thought bitterly.

Sensei however was blinking owlishly, clearly unsuspecting. "O-oh, I apologize Uzumaki-kun, I was unaware. Then please, take your time. Takagi-san, please give him your school notes after class."

Saya gaped at the teacher, she usually doesn't take notes actually. Mostly because she already knows the content of the teaching, just as much as the teacher, if not more. She rounded her glare over at the troublesome blond next to her, who was giving her an apologetic smile. He leaned towards her, whispering.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give you extra work. You don't have to give me notes if you don't want to."

Despite his effort to cheer her up, Saya felt unusually annoyed by his statement. "Idiot, of course I'll give you notes. It's my job as class rep to make sure that everyone has an equal chance at passing."

Naruto brightened considerably, grinning at her. Saya felt her face heat up a little bit as she was taken back with surprise. "Really? You're the best, Saya-chan!"

Her mouth dropped, as did several students' who had overheard them. He had just blown past familiarity and flew into a personal standing with the scariest pinkette. Naruto was completely oblivious to the situation as he turned back to the sensei.

Saya's face was heated as she growled at him, whispering harshly. "Don't speak so informally to me, idiot. I'm Takagi-san to you!"

Naruto turned to her, putting a finger to his lips, "Shh, class rep. We're in the middle of class."

Saya could only gape at the teen next to her. Her eye was twitching with considerable stress. He had proved to get under her skin, and annoy her to a much greater extent than anyone else had ever accomplished. Congratulations Naruto, Takagi Saya now hates your guts with a seething hot passion. Naruto glared down at his pen in frustration, clearly not able to write well with his hand.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto stood up and stretched from the dismissal of his class, and signaling its time for lunch. Bored out of his mind, Naruto looked around and noticed Rei was over near her boyfriend, both of them getting their bentos out and sitting next to each other. Naruto grinned and strode up to the pair, unaware of several sets of eyes watching him.

"Hello there!"

Rei and Hisashi blinked and looked at the third wheel. Who apparently didn't mind. Naruto held his hand up in a wave, waiting for either of them to say something. Rei ashamed of Naruto, this was so embarrassing. Why Naruto, oh god why? Naruto held out his hand the grey haired boy.

"I'm Naruto! Nice to meet you! I've heard a lot about you from Miyamoto."

Rei buried her face in her hands, hiding the obviously raging blush on her face. Hisashi glanced curiously at his girlfriend, but accepted Naruto's hand and shook it.

"Igou Hisashi. Rei's boyfriend. How do you know Rei?"

Naruto pulled up a chair and sat perpendicular to the pair. "Miyamoto's tou-san happened to find me while I was unconscious and bleeding out due to this thing." He gestured to the missing limb. "So he actually saved my life. I'm not from around here, and I didn't have any money so he's been letting me stay at his place for the past couple of days."

Hisashi looked like he'd been slapped and was surprised. As with several other students also were surprised. "You've been at Rei's house?" He glanced at his girlfriend, who had yet to show her face. "She hadn't told me…"

Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, they've been really nice to me. It's a change of pace. I like it there."

Rei groaned and then glared at Naruto with such disdain he actually took a step back and looked at her, startled. "Uz-u-mak-i, what do you need?" she practically growled.

Naruto swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and laughed nervously, "A-ah, I just was thirsty and I had no money…"

Her face was blank as she stared at him. Naruto scratched his cheek, embarrassed. Rei sighed deeply, shaking her head. She gave Hisashi an apologetic look, who had just lightly smiled at her, giving her permission. Rei stood up and walked past Naruto.

"Come on, we have to go to my locker to get my money."

Naruto brightened considerably, practically beaming. "Thanks so much Miyamoto!"

At times like those Naruto would call her 'Rei-chan'. She was very grateful that he didn't this time. She ignored the stares of the other students in the room as she leads Naruto to her locker. However, despite the situation, she couldn't help the small smile that formed. She kind of hoped that he would never change. Naruto looked around, watching as the bustling students talked and chatted animatedly between one another.

Naruto couldn't help but smile peacefully. Back home, the war had taken any comfort from the younger generation, whereas a scene like this wouldn't happen for years to come as people had changed through the war, still mourning the loss of loved ones as well. Naruto's smile fell as he sadly looked about the scene. At least for now, he can appreciate the looks of innocence.

Rei had been watching the display of emotions on his face, wondering what he could possibly be thinking about to make him look so heartbroken. Was it a past lover? Or maybe he's thinking about his home… Rei bit her lip. As much as she knows Naruto wants to get home one day, she really hoped that he would just stay with her forever.

The two arrived at her locker and she unlocked it, getting some money out for Naruto. She gave him a little bit extra, enough to buy two things if he wanted. She held the money out for Naruto to take.

"Here."

However, she was ignored by the blonde. She scowled slightly, before noticing what he just wasn't paying attention to her. Naruto was staring somewhat down the hall, with a frown on his face. She blinked, and followed his stare to see a scene that she was familiar with. She frowned.

"I believe his name is Hirano Kohta. I guess this happens often. I don't know why he just doesn't stand up for himself." She shook her head.

Naruto briefly glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Looking back at the scene as three bigger, more muscular boys crowded around his fellow classmate. He had recognized him from when he had first arrived. One of the boys, with brown hair, but dyed blond, had a rough grasp on the front of the chubby's shirt, clearly threatening him.

"Are you going to take the money or not?" Rei was getting annoyed by being ignored. This normally wasn't like the blonde. Naruto glanced at her again, before huffing.

"Hold onto your horses, Rei-chan. I'll be back."

Rei blinked, watching as he strode off towards the trouble makers. "H-hey, Naruto wait, you just can't–"

She cut herself off as she watched Naruto stride up without an ounce of fear to the three delinquents. As quietly as he was able he strode up to them. And as his ninja background had permitted, he was pretty damn quiet. He prowled up to the group, noticing that he actually was standing a little bit above them. He smirked at his accomplishment. Ha! Take that Sasuke! I'm not the shrimp anymore!

Wiping the smirk off his face, he settled for a glare. "What are you doing to him?"

They all turned to look at him, Kohta was wide eyed, not suspecting the new transfer student to help him out, since nobody else did. Naruto continued to glare at them, trying to be as imposing as possible.

The dyed blonde clicked his tongue, "Tch, buzz off, this is business with Hirano only."

He turned around, facing Kohta again, who started to sweat, but refused to show any fear to them.

Naruto frowned but grabbed the other teens shoulder. "Excuse me, this is my business. Leave chubby alone."

Kohta mentally cried to himself. _"Uzumaki-san. Are you helping me, or joining them?"_

A small group of students started to form around the ruckus in the hallway. Naruto ignored them. The dyed blonde glared at him and fully squared up to Naruto. He absentmindedly noticed that the other teen, now at full height, was equal in height. However, it would take a lot more than that for Naruto to be afraid of anything. Hell if he could look Kaguya in her eyes, then he sure as hell can handle a hormonal teenager.

"What did you say to me?" the dyed hair teen growled dangerously.

Naruto blinked, unaffected. "I said to leave him alone."

One of the other groupies, turned away from Kohta and faced Naruto as well. "You better listen to Tsunoda blondie, or we'll have to give you a beating."

Naruto smiled at them. "Hey now, I'm not looking for trouble, just leave the guy alone. I don't see the need to bully other people at all."

At this the newly named Tsunoda, the dyed blonde, gave Naruto a rough shove. Naruto only took a step back from the force. "Look here, moron. None of this concerns you. Now If you just politely _go fuck yourself_ then there won't be any issues between us."

Naruto tilted his head, "So you're not going to leave him alone?"

Tsunoda put his fists up, intent on knocking Naruto out. "Hell no."

Naruto shrugged. "Well I warned ya."

Before Naruto finished his sentence, Tsunoda swung is right fist in for a hook. Naruto smirked. While looking fast for the average student who had all gathered around them, Naruto thought it was rather…slow. He easily dodged it by leaning back. Tsunoda, having not expected to miss, was now off balance falling forward. Naruto took this opportunity to thrust his own fist into Tsunoda's stomach, knocking the air out of him and having him spit out saliva. Naruto withdrew his hand just as the other two goons came forward with attacks of their own.

The first guy swung in with his own front jab, aiming at Naruto's face. Naruto pushed the fist to the side and kicked the boy in the ribs. The boy flew into the lockers from the force of the kick and slumped down. Naruto whirled around, dodge the next punch from goon number 2. He put one of his legs behind the delinquent and grabbed the front of his shirt, throwing him down on the ground. Naruto sat his knee down right on the teens throat, choking him.

Naruto looked to the side to see Tsunoda on his feet again. Naruto quickly grabbed one of his pant legs and pulled hard. Tsunoda felt his leg suddenly the pulled backwards and his other leg came with it. He slammed face first into the ground. Pain rushed through his face as he heard a sharp crunch and felt blood gush from his nose. He cried out and held his face in pain.

Naruto sweat dropped as he had affectively broken the other teens nose. Choking noises reminded Naruto that there was someone stuck under his knee. He looked down and released the pressure on his throat, standing up. Naruto put his hand on his hip as he looked at his damage. Man that couldn't even be called a fight. All three of them were on the ground, one groaning in pain holding a bloody face, one holding his side as he breathed slowly and probably painfully. And the last one choking and gasping for air.

The blonde scratched the back of his head, looking over to the stunned chubby boy. He stepped over Tsunoda and held a hand out for Kohta to take.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked with genuine concern. Kohta accepted the hand and felt himself be pulled to his feet, quickly and easily. He blinked again.

"Y-yeah I am. Thank you."

Naruto flashed his foxy grin and scratched the back of his head. "Ah shucks, it's no big deal. I can't stand bullying. I had to step in."

Kohta laughed, feeling himself ease up at Naruto's smile. "I'm Hirano Kohta, by the way." He held out his hand for Naruto to take.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto held out his own hand and smiled awkwardly when he noticed that it was the wrong hand. He laughed sheepishly. Kohta blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh I'm sorry Uzumaki-kun! I forgot about your arm." He lifted his opposite arm and shook Naruto's hand.

"Don't worry about it Kohta! Happens all the time." He grinned at the chubby boy to give him reassurance. It worked.

Naruto turned towards the mess me made in the hallway, frowning slightly. "I guess I should take responsibility for these guys though, huh?"

The teen turned towards the stunned still Rei, who had followed him over here and watched the whole thing, smiling at her. "Rei-chan, I'm gonna take these guys to the school's nurse. Tell sensei I'll be a little bit late."

Rei could only nod, still shocked. Naruto walked over to Tsunoda on the ground and hefted him up onto his feet. "Up you go." Naruto grabbed the one holding his ribs and did the same, the teen groaned in pain. "You too."

The last one got over his coughing fit, and was already standing on his own violation. Naruto nodded and grabbed the scruff of Tsunoda's neck, determining that he was the 'group leader'.

"Now come on, you guys look awful."

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto had taken a little bit longer to find the nurses office, since he had forgotten where it was when the principal had shown him around. But when he did, he knocked on the door and peaked his head in.

"Pardon the intrusion." He called out.

Naruto frowned but dragged the teens inside, ordering them to sit on the beds. They all complied wordlessly. Naruto looked around for the nurse still but scowled when he couldn't find her. He proceeded to look around for something that he could give the bleeding teen. Naruto found a towel and shrugged. It was the nurses fault for not being here when he needed her! This was not his expertise! Sakura-chan would know what to do in this situation. Naruto wet the towel slightly.

Naruto walked back over to Tsunoda and handed him the towel. "Hold that to your nose, and wipe your face off. I wet it a little bit."

Tsunoda wordlessly obeyed, watching Naruto with his eyes. Naruto sat down opposite of them and sighed. Man, first day of school and he's already been in a fight and has been light too two of his classes. He'll get a bad rep if he keeps this up. He sighed.

"Why are you helping us?"

Naruto blinked, not expecting him to break the silence. All three of them were staring at him. He shrugged. "Why do you have to bully Kohta?"

Tsunoda clicked his tongue, "Because that's what I do."

"Well then there's your answer for me too."

Naruto crossed his arms staring at them, a frown on his face. "Why do you have to bully in the first place? You know, whatever it is that you might have wanted from him, I'm sure he'd be happy to give it to you if you were his friend."

"Shut the fuck up." Tsunoda growled. "You don't know anything. This is just the way I handle things."

"Well." Naruto started, "You can always change the way you do things." He pointed out. "Because if you keep this up, I'll just have to keep taking you here."

Tsunoda turned his head to the side, "I'm glad to inconvenience you."

At that Naruto actually laughed, "Wow you really have a shitty personality, don't you?"

The teen didn't respond. Naruto's laughed simmered down until it was nothing but a smirk on his face. "I'll just have to show you how to do it all properly then." Naruto shrugged, musing out loud as if it was the simplest answer in the world.

Tsunoda's head whipped to Naruto, flinching as he had caused himself more pain by doing so. "What do you mean by that?"

Naruto smirked in amusement, "Well you have to be doing this for some reason. I'll just show you that it feels better to have people love you, than fear you."

Tsunoda could only stare in shock at the blonde's answer. He could honestly say that he's never had anyone who has put the effort in for him. He wouldn't be surprised if Naruto had bailed out on him.

Naruto had seemed to read his mind and grinned over at him. "You know what? I'll make you a promise. I'll turn you into NOT an asshole if it's the last thing I do! And I never ever break my promises!"

Naruto grinned widely and held his thumbs up, stunning all three of the delinquents to their core. Before anyone else could say anything, the door slid open again and a big breasted blonde haired woman stood there, surprise etched onto her features.

"Ara? What's going on here?"

The blonde male stared at the blonde female. "Are you the nurse?"

She tilted her head, confused. "Why yes, I'm Marikawa Shizuka! School nurse here!"

Naruto nodded at Shizuka, "Uzumaki Naruto, pleased to meet you! I leave these three in your care while I go to class! They got into a bit of a scuffle."

Shizuka watched him go, confused. She looked at the other three, noticing the bloody towel, and the pale faces. She tilted her head, confused as to what happened while she was gone. Naruto left the room and strode lazily to his classroom, hand in pocket. He whistled to the empty hallways, enjoying the beautiful day outside, even though he was stuck in this god forsaken place.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto's ears perked up when he heard the bell signifying the end of the day. He couldn't have been happier. He almost jumped on top of his desk and shouted to the heavens, but he decided against that. However, he stood up and was about to leave the classroom when he felt something pulling his sleeve. He blinked and looked back.

Takagi Saya was holding his sleeve, looking mightily peeved. Naruto blinked. "Uh, do you need something."

She huffed, annoyed. "Idiot, did you forget that I was going to give you my notes?"

Naruto turned around, eyes sparkling in delight. "Oh I did forget! Thank you so much!"

"You forgot?" she asked incredulously, "Are you stupid or something?"

Rei, who was eavesdropping on the conversation happened to sweat drop, thinking that she has that constant thought running through her mind. Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Laughing slightly, "Ah, yeah I think I am I little stupid."

That surprised Saya, she had expected him to be the kind who would adamantly argue that he wasn't. She blinked, but before she could say anything Naruto was grinning again, "But you'd be surprised, I have my moments of genius."

At that Saya scoffed, "You don't know the first thing about genius. What you are looking at is a true genius." She clearly was indicating to herself.

Naruto laughed, a little nostalgic, "Ah, I think I've heard that before…" He looked to the side, thinking back to Sasuke and Neji. His smile faltered when he remembered Neji. Naruto sobered up. He couldn't help but remember that he was in a different world, where the people of his home were cleaning up the mess of the war. Burying their loved ones, and rebuilding damage. While Naruto was goofing off in a peaceful school. His mood quickly darkened.

Saya wasn't sure if it was something she said, but she had watched with morbid fascination as the bubbly blonde's mood had quickly dampened. His eyes were glazed over as he had clearly been thinking about something. As quickly has it had changed, Naruto reverted back to the 'normal' as Saya had deemed. He grinned at the pinkette.

"Thanks, Saya-chan! Your help means a lot to me."

She opened her mouth to retort, but he was already gone. She closed it and tilted her head in confused. What a strange person. Saya shook her head, packing up her things before she had left herself. Saya left the classroom but felt a whoosh of air fly past her.

"GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!"

She blinked and watched a grinning and laughing Naruto running by. Shortly after a powdery white Takashi ran by chasing after Naruto. Takashi looked like someone dumped a bucket of baby powder on his head. Saya watched Naruto jog away, grinning, while Takashi chases after him looking absolutely livid. She was literally just talking with Naruto, how did get already cause trouble the second he wasn't supervised.

Naruto suddenly stopped running and ducked under Takashi's attempted tackle. Naruto grinned at the unfortunate brunette lying in a heap on the ground. Naruto pointed at him, "Wow! You gotta be quicker than that Taka-chan!"

Naruto spun on his heel and took off the opposite direction. Takashi growled and got to his feet, chasing after Naruto again. This time however Naruto ran over to the stairway balcony, and simply hopped over, earning shrieks of surprise from nearby students watching their commotion. While Naruto was air borne, he gave a two fingered salute to the stunned Takashi.

Saya watched as Naruto disappeared from view, Takashi standing there in surprise. Saya and Takashi both ran to look over the edge of the balcony. They were both greeted with Naruto's giant smile as he sat crouched on the railing, a floor below them. Naruto stood up and jumped over a few unsuspecting students, who howled in shock. Naruto proceeded to run out of the highschool, ignoring the rules of changing shoes. He kept running, completely oblivious to the majority of the student body watching his back leave.

Saya herself was staring in wonder. The blonde had been a complete enigma, to everyone. She wasn't even sure what she should think right now. Everything he had done, kept surprising her and everyone else around him.

"That idiot."

She looked beside her, and saw someone that she really didn't get along with. Miyamoto Rei was blushing, embarrassed, while holding her head in her hands. Saya had deduced that they had seemed close, and when Naruto had informed almost everyone in the classroom that her father had saved his life, it only confirmed it. However, Rei's behavior was peculiar. If she didn't have a boyfriend right now, she would almost think that the light brunette possibly had crush on the blonde. Suddenly the people around them broke out into a fit of excitement.

"Oh my god, did you see that?"

"Yeah! He's like some sort of monkey!"

"Never mind that! Did you see how cute he was?"

"I heard he beat up Tsunoda's gang today."

"I heard that he's the new transfer student of 2-B."

"Wow, suddenly I'm very jealous of that class."

Both Rei and Saya couldn't stop their irritation, hearing the whispers around them. Naruto sure knew how to take a school by storm. Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sharp growl next to them. They saw Takashi, completely powdered white, glaring out the window. He angrily turned around and stormed down the stairs of the school, probably hoping to get home.

The two girls couldn't resist the giggle of amusement at Takashi's predicament. Rei felt someone put their hand on her shoulder and her face brightened, seeing Hisashi standing next to her.

"Let's go home, Rei."

She nodded, and walked away with Hisashi. The corner of her eye flickering over to the pinkette. Who was still staring out the window. Saya was turned a little a met her gaze evenly. No words had been spoken between the two, but they definitely didn't need to. Rei turned away and continued walking with Hisashi, glad to finally get some time alone with him.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto basically skipped home, thinking that he had such a good day. It was fun to get out of the house, despite having to attend classes. He had met so many different people today! He smiled as he opened the door to his temporary home.

"I'm home!" he called, and was in the process of taking off his shoes when Tadashi came around the corner.

Tadashi stared at the blonde for a second… "You wore your school shoes home?"

Naruto blinked then looked down. He sheepishly chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Hehe, I forgot to take them off."

Tadashi sighed and waved for Naruto to follow him, "Come with me, Naruto. I'd like to talk to you about something."

Naruto nodded and obeyed, following the older gentleman before he was led into his personal study. A place which he hasn't been in yet. Naruto took a step in and looked around. Colors of dark brown and maroon were fleeting. The carpet was a beautiful design mixed of with auburn and grey. Naruto saw his desk which was in the center of the room, and there was a couch at the other end of the small room. Several bookshelves were filled with different novels and books. Naruto wasn't exactly used to seeing books. Since where he came from, everything was in a scroll. It was odd, but he now prefers the use of a book compared to a scroll.

There were papers scattered across Tadashi's desk about various things, none of which Naruto understood anything about. The elder man gestured for Naruto to sit down on the couch, which Naruto complied. Plopping down, Naruto looked at Tadashi curiously as he closed the door and walked over to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small oak box. He closed the drawer and walked over to Naruto, sitting next to him with the box in his lap.

"Naruto…" Tadashi had started. Naruto could hear the seriousness in his voice. He couldn't help but get a little bit nervous.

"Y-yeah?"

"While we're in here, I want to ask you about yourself."

This had Naruto blink in surprise. What did the man want to know that he hasn't already told him? He tilted his head, showing his confusion.

Tadashi picked up on his confusion and proceed. "More specifically, I'd like to talk about where you come from." He let that information sink in for Naruto.

Naruto started to sweat a little, and he laughed awkwardly, trying to play off as ignorance. "What do you mean, Jii-san?"

Tadashi stared at Naruto for a second, before opening the box, showing Naruto what was inside. Naruto's eyes widened considerably, not expecting to see that. Inside the box was Naruto's kunai pouch, his headband, and the few kunai he had in there, including his father's three pronged kunai. Naruto's eyes flickered to his friend as he liked to call him.

Tadashi held his serious face. "Naruto, I know you're not normal. You should have died. Your wounds were significant. Several broken bones, an absolutely massive amount of blood loss, many of your muscles were torn, internal bleeding, you name it. Hell your arm was blown off for Christ sake. Yet you were up and _jumping_ in a week. Hell, even now you are perfectly fine. Not a single scar remains. Even then, you've shown a tremendous amount of physical power, and speed."

Naruto couldn't look him in the eye, as he stared at his weapons. He knew what he was going to ask him. Tadashi continued. "Now I've never been a man to believe in…super human beings, but you a person that I just can't ignore. You've been hiding facts about your home and where you came from. Now please Naruto, tell me…"

Naruto finally looked up into his eyes, feeling small suddenly. "Naruto…what are you."

He bit his lip when he heard the question. Of course he should have expected this guy to question his healing ability. No normal human should have healed as fast as he did. That and he's been rather careless with his abilities since he's shown up in this world.

Naruto sighed. "Where do I even start?"

Tadashi put a hand on his shoulder, "How about at the beginning?"

Naruto looked at him, staring. "If I were to tell you. You can't tell anyone else. Especially Rei, because when the time comes I want to tell her myself…" he trailed off looking down.

The hand on his shoulder squeezed reassuringly. "I promise."

Naruto sighed, smiling gratefully. He leaned back, and looked up thinking about how to start. "Hmmmm…I guess I should first say that I'm not from this world."

Naruto looked over at Tadashi, expecting a reaction, but his face was completely blank. No expression. And he made no move to interrupt Naruto. So the blonde continued. "I'm from a different dimension, where we call it The Elemental Nations. It's a world filled with shinobi, ninjas, and violence. To be honest it's a kill or be killed kind of world. But I love it there." Naruto smiled fondly, thinking of his home. "The fear of death hanging in the air only serves to make the bonds you make that much stronger. The place I said I grew up in, was actually a village. The name was Konohagakure, or Village Hidden in the Leaf. Konoha for short. That was my home."

"But you see when I was born, a giant entity, in the shape of a fox, had been put under a genjutsu, an illusion technique where I come from. Well anyway the fox had been forced to attack my home the night I was born, and the current leader at the time, which they're called Hokage's, had rescued the village by not defeating or killing the entity. No the fox was too strong for that. Instead he sealed away the fox into me. A newborn child. The Hokage at the time happened to be my own father. He sacrificed his life to contain the evil energy that was the fox."

Naruto paused, letting the information sink in for Tadashi. "You see our world is capable of doing incredible things, almost anything really, because we have a powerful too on our side. It's called chakra. In the early stages of time, a woman named Kaguya had taken a fruit from a mystical tree called the 'God Tree'. That fruit had given her chakra. With her power she had ended all wars that plagued the land. And when she had children, they had inherited the power of chakra. One of them had spread the ability to use chakra, hoping that they could use this power to understand each other and create a permanent peace. Instead though, those people had used chakra for war and to fight."

"Everyone has chakra, and its networked into our bodies, almost like veins. But our chakra is a balance of both physical energy and spiritual energy, manifesting as our energy. Each person's chakra 'signature' is different and there are shinobi who are able to sense this and be able to tell who a person is miles away from them. But that's the backstory to my home."

"When I was growing up, people had feared and hated the fox entity's power. He had caused so much death and destruction, that of course they would be afraid of it. However, because I was the container, they were also afraid of the power I held within. Both my parents were dead, the orphanage wanted nothing to do with me, and the generation that was present for the fox's attack feared and avoided me. I was so alone. I had no friends, no family. No one to talk too but it was even worse because at the time I didn't know _why_ they hated and avoided me."

Naruto's eyes were sad as he looked down, the pain of his childhood will always be fresh for him. It's not something that someone could easily forget. Naruto smiled though. "Then one day I graduated from the ninja academy. I was a failure of a student, a dead last. But I wanted to become the strongest, so that everyone would acknowledge me. I was placed on a team with someone I hated, and my crush. It was good times. The boy that I hated had ended up becoming a rival of sorts for me, and I couldn't help but call him my friend. But he wanted to kill his brother, for different reasons. His name was Sasuke. And one day Sasuke had left the village, betraying his home and becoming what we call a missing ninja. He wanted more power so he left. Of course I had failed to make him come back when I went to go get him."

"Fast forward a couple years, and I still considered Sasuke my friend. We both had become strong. But there was this organization that was after me because of the fox spirit I contained. There were eight others like me, nine altogether. This organization wanted to collect the spirits so that they could combine them and basically rule the world. But they claimed it was all for world peace. Ha, yeah right." Naruto spat bitterly. "Well they had started a war with the world. Killing hundreds of people. But because of this common enemy, all the shinobi nations had combined forces, creating a truce."

"They all fought and bled together, and even more people died. Some of my most important friends have died in that war…eventually we had defeated the group and the strongest enemy Madara who actually ended up turning into Kaguya… long story. But Sasuke, Me, and Sakura-chan, my other teammate, had to work together to defeat her. It was quite a fight. When all was said and done, Sasuke said that he wanted to create a different time of peace by reinventing the world. In order for him to do that, he thought he had to kill the important figures of the world. I stood up against him to stop him."

The whole time, Tadashi hadn't said a word. Listening to Naruto, captured by his story. Naruto smiled at him. "We ended up beating each other to near death. Our final attack happened to open an inter-dimensional rift and sucked me into it. With that happening, it had completely scrambled my chakra network, essentially leaving me stranded here. I think it will heal, although very slowly without being healed by someone."

There was silence between the two of them. One processing what was told and the other allowing it to sink in. Minutes went by, neither saying a word. After what had seemed like forever to Naruto, Tadashi picked up the headband in the box.

"And these? What are they?"

Naruto smiled, taking the headband from him and tying it around his head. The battered and worn black cloth easily and comfortably slipped on. "This is our ninja headband. It a symbol of honor. It marks us which village we are from, and it shows everyone our struggle to become a shinobi. Actually this one is special to me… it used to belong to my academy sensei. And on the night of my graduation, he was the first person ever to acknowledge me as Uzumaki Naruto…I think he had saved my life that night."

Tadashi picked up a kunai and the three pronged kunai. "And these?"

Naruto pointed at the regular knife, "That's a basic shinobi tool. A kunai. The other one is a special knife that my father used for his signature technique. It allowed him to teleport." Naruto grinned at him at the end.

Tadashi's eyes widened in surprise, looking at the knife. "Your people's chakra actually allows something as advanced as teleporting?"

Naruto shrugged. "Like I said, chakra allows us to basically do anything. But unfortunately teleporting isn't a common thing where I live. My father's teleportation was special. He was the only person who used that technique. He was considered the fastest person in the world!"

Naruto grinned proudly, although while in his Sage of the Six Paths mode, he was faster than Sasuke and actually surpassed his father's Hiraishin speeds, he still considered his father to be faster than him. Maybe it was because he just looked up to him so much. Eh, whatever.

Tadashi studied Naruto for a second, thinking through it all. Finally, he rested a hand on his chin. "So you are telling me that you are from a different dimension." A nod. "And that your kind is able to have super powers of sorts because of a natural energy there." Another nod. "And that you were ripped from your home right after the war ended, because you and your best friend were fighting to the death?" Another nod. "And now you are stuck here because your…chakra…network…isn't usable anymore?"

"For now at least."

Tadashi sighed and rubbed his temples. "Do you realize how absurd this sounds?"

Naruto shrugged. "You wanted to know. I wouldn't lie and make this up."

"What are you going to do in the mean time?"

Naruto relaxed back, sighing himself. "I guess the only thing I can do is wait around for my chakra network to heal. I can only hope that my friends can get to me before too long."

Tadashi leaned back as well, looking like he needed a drink. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I believe you."

Naruto grinned at him, actually feeling much better about letting his new friend know about him. "Thanks."

"So once you find a way home, you'll leave here for good, huh?" Tadashi mumbled quietly. He didn't want to admit it out loud to the blonde, but had come to think of him as a son somewhat. He wasn't sure how long it would take for them to find him, or for his chakra network to heal. But he was actually disappointed to hear Naruto talk about leaving. It just didn't seem to fit him.

Tadashi sighed. "Well Naruto, while you are here. May I ask of you a favor?"

Naruto nodded, intent on repaying the debt he owed this man with whatever he could do.

"Please, protect my little princess from any harm that could happen to her." He smiled at the blonde.

Naruto was baffled, "Protect Rei? From what?"

Tadashi slumped down, tired from the day. "Anything and everything. If you could do that for me, I'd greatly appreciate it."

Naruto could only grin at the man who had saved his life. Giving him a thumbs up, he proclaimed. "Don't worry, Jii-san. I'll protect her with my life! And that's a promise of a lifetime!"

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

After that conversation, Naruto and Tadashi had gotten closer. Much to the surprise of Kiriko and Rei. The two were inseparable, Naruto amusing the old man with tales and stories of his adventures from his old world, and Tadashi entertaining Naruto with stories from his own experience in the line of duty. A week had passed quickly, Naruto adjusting to the school and unfortunately, the school was still unable to adjust to Naruto.

It turns out, Naruto was a terrible student. He cut classes, he pranked teachers, he goofed around with others and he spent most of his time socializing with the students. Naruto, while considered a delinquent to most, was loved by all. He was considered a dark prince of sorts. The nicest guy in the school, handsome, and energetic. Despite his tendancies to overdue his pranks and actually piss several people off. Takashi had gotten over his initial anger at the blonde and couldn't help but like him as well.

Naruto was everyone's friend. Even Tsunoda had loosened up a little bit, being caught by Naruto several times in the act of bullying. Naruto never let him off easily either, which had resulted in many trips to the nurse's office. Shizuka-sensei enjoying the company of her fellow blonde, and rather enjoying his energetic attitude.

Takashi's depression over his lifelong crush had actually been forgotten while he spends his time with Naruto, the bubbly teen's positive attitude was contagious. As well as his smiles. Takashi was slowly allowing himself to enjoy life again. Which was a huge step forward for the brunette.

Naruto had gained a very mixed reputation. Many would argue that he's a good for nothing delinquent, a great many others would argue that he is beloved, and that there was just something about Naruto that made you want to be friends with him. Overall, the week was almost always filled with conversation with the blonde.

Despite all of this, Naruto was completely oblivious to any of it.

Having to learn how to ignore the people around him from his harsh childhood, he doesn't even realize anymore if people are bad talking him or saying good things.

Over the past week, Naruto had learned all sorts of things, so far his favorite thing would be the little metal boxes that could play music. And when he said music, he meant really catchy music. Not like the kind that his world had. It was both Ichijou Misuzu and Toshimi Niki who had opened his eyes to the wonderful sounds of this world. They tried to have Naruto put their earbuds in and listen, but he struggled to get his opposite earbud in, due to the lack of arm.

They were both more than happy to help him but the bud in his ear, as he listened to their choice of music. Much to the annoyance of several people in the class. Naruto was considered a trophy for any girl would be lucky enough to ask him out. Naruto's reaction was the most adorable look hardly anyone had ever seen.

Like a child on Christmas morning, Naruto's face lit up with such amazement and awe that he literally jumped onto his desk, proclaiming that the small metal box of music was the most incredible thing in the world. Later he was seen to be dancing in the hallways, running away from Misuzu and Niki who wanted their mp3 player back.

Through this week, Naruto had discovered that while nowhere near perfect, his chakra coils had healed enough to allow him to be able to manipulate the tiniest bit of chakra. Not enough for a Kage Bunshin or any of his other jutsu, but it was enough to be able to flow that chakra to different parts of his body, giving him small physical boost. They weren't healed enough for the blonde to be able to use basic chakra control techniques however, such as water walking and tree climbing. And as happy as it made him to have the small bit of chakra use, even using that amount of chakra had put him through quite of bit of pain. He had decided that for now, he wouldn't use it unless he absolutely needed too…

Anyway.

It was all of this combined that could have explained why Naruto was found hiding away in the observatory rooftop, tapping his feet to a tune that Naruto was listening too while he skipped class because he had pranked the teacher. And He was fairly good friends with the janitor, so he had given Naruto an extra key to this forbidden rooftop so he could chill up here when he had wanted to pick up some sun rays.

Naruto's lone hand was behind his head, as his stump was spread out wide. Naruto was lost in his own little world, enjoying the peace and freedom that he had while up here. His thoughts were disrupted by a voice that he was all too familiar with.

" **Brat."**

Naruto's eyes blasted open and he jerked himself into a sitting position. "Kurama?!"

" **Good to hear from you again, kid."**

Naruto's eyes watered as he heard his friends voice again, not expecting to hear it for quite some time yet. He almost jumped for joy. Almost. _"Kurama! You're awake! I still thought you'd be sleeping for a little longer."_

" **I thought so as well. Although I was woke up by a most disturbing presence."**

Naruto tilted his head, confused. _"What do you mean?"_

Suddenly Naruto was brought into his mindscape and in front of him was a familiar ginormous body of Kurama. The fox was sitting on his haunches smirking down at the human. Naruto grinned and waved his greeting.

" **I sense natural chakra Naruto, but not a normal kind. It feels sick, vile, and evil."**

Naruto gasped, "Natural chakra? How is that even possible? How do you feel it and I don't though?"

Kyuubi looked up, probably thinking, **"I've was a being of hatred and evil reincarnate. I think I can detect such feelings now."** He paused as Naruto sweat dropped and laughed lightly. **"But I can feel it. This feeling is what woke up from my slumber. Something is happening in this world that you're in now, and it's not pretty."**

Naruto cupped his chin, "Maybe I should go check it out. Although I hope I don't have to fight any powerful enemies…" he looked down at his hands. "I would be useless against them."

" **I'm not sure if that's what this is, but I do recommend you investigate."**

Naruto kicked himself out of his mindscape and stood up, taking the earbuds out of his ears and placing the mp3 player in his back pocket. _"Let's go, Kurama. Lead the way."_

Kurama nodded to Naruto mentally. And Naruto took off down the stairs from the roof. However, a crackle of noise came over the loud speakers and Naruto stopped and stared at them in shock as the sound of the principal came over the speakers.

"Attention all students! Violence has broken out on campus!"

Naruto's eyes widened hearing this. _"Kurama? Could this be what you were sensing earlier?"_

" **It's very likely."** Kurama confirmed in his mind. **"Although I wasn't expecting it to arrive here so quickly…"** He paused, suddenly realizing something. **"Are… you in a school?"**

Naruto nodded, confirmed Kurama's question. The fox chuckled in his mind. **"I can honestly say that I've never expected you to agree to go back to an academy willingly."**

Naruto growled lowly, annoyed at Kurama's jabbing. _"A lot has happened while you've been asleep, Kurama. This happens to be one of them."_

" **I'd say."**

Their conversation was interrupted again, by the principal speaking over the intercom.

"Students should evacuate the campus according to their teachers' instructions."

Naruto sighed. Well shit. Whatever it was that happening, creating an announcement would definitely create a mass panic. They might have been better off just keeping them in their classrooms and barricading the doors.

"I repeat. Violence has broken out on campus! Students should evacuate campus – "

The lined sounded like it was dropped on the floor, and it was silent for a few seconds. Naruto felt his eyes widened as he waited for more, his heart rate increasing with adrenaline. Suddenly the sound of a struggle came through the overhead paging system. Naruto felt his blood run cold.

"Help! Save me!"

The man's voice was terrified, as crashes and clangs came through the speaker. Naruto cursed and dashed down the hallway in the direction of the principal's office. Fortunately, he wasn't that far away from his office. As Naruto got closer, he could hear the screams of the principal through the overhead speakers and from the door down the hall. He sped up, increasing to shinobi speeds as he slid next to the door and kicked it open.

"NO! HELP ME!"

Naruto stared in horror as he saw several…beings holding down the principal. The first thing Naruto noticed was their stench, the absolute abhorred smell of decay assaulted Naruto's sensitive nose. His eyes watered from the nasal assault. His hesitation however, and caused two of the creatures to bite into the principal, blood flying every which way. Naruto watched in horror as he started to foam at the mouth and slumped over, not moving or breathing.

"Kocho-sensei!"

Naruto couldn't help but yell out, gaining the attention of the five creatures in front of him. Blood stained the wall and Naruto felt his anger arise, he grit his teeth and pulled out a kunai that he had hidden away in his uniform.

"You fucking bastards!"

With neck breaking speeds to suddenly appeared in front of the first creature, jamming the kunai hilt deep into its chest. He picked it up and threw it aside with his hand. Two more creatures approached him, going in for a bite. Naruto spun on his heel, round house kicking both of them so hard, that their heads spun completely around with a grotesque crunch noise.

Naruto glared at the last two as they stumbled towards him, he took his kunai and jabbed it through the eye socket of one, and quickly spun behind the other, ripping the kunai out and sending blood flying as he pierced the skull of the second one. They both slumped over. Naruto was about to relax slightly when he heard shuffling behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the first creature that he had stabbed in the chest stand and stumble over towards him. Naruto frowned. By all means, this creature should be dead.

He turned around to face it, not making any noise. When it got in range, Naruto simply jabbed his hand out, as quick as a cobra, and stabbed the creature between the eyes. It slumped over as well, body hitting the floor. Naruto frowned when he saw that.

" **So only damage to the head can take them out."**

Naruto nodded, _"What a cliché weakness."_

Naruto turned towards his sensei and sighed, noticing the man was dead. "Sorry sensei, I couldn't get here faster." He muttered lowly. But his musing was cut short as the man twitched and slowly started to sit up.

Naruto watched as the man's eyes opened, grey and lifeless and rolled to the back of his head. His skin was an ashen grey, and he was profusely bleeding from almost every orifice. He glared at the dead body of his principal. Something doesn't seem right to him. These creatures had bitten he principal, and by no means were those wounds fatal. But the principal had died, and now he is standing in front of Naruto, unmoving, nor is he attacking the blonde.

Faintly Naruto could hear screams around the halls as students were panicking and running around chaotically. This seemed to attract the body of the principal as he lurched forward. Naruto tensed, ready to end him. He hesitated however when the principal didn't look to be attacking him. He watched as the creature walked by him and out of the room, Naruto's eyes widened.

" _He ignored me? Was it because I tried to save him?"_

" **Naruto, I think these creatures are something like the Edo Tensei. Reanimated dead."**

Naruto took a step towards his old sensei, intent to follow him. But when his foot landed, the principal turned around and jumped at Naruto. Surprised, but not caught off guard, Naruto side stepped and impaled the creatures head with his kunai, spraying blood all over his clothes and on his face. Naruto frowned.

" _He ignored me until I made a sound."_

Kurama hummed inside of his head. **"Quite possibly brat…they're only sense might be sound."**

Naruto nodded and decided to keep that in mind. But first he had a top priority right now to find his friends and make sure they're alright. He couldn't waste a single second. He took off out of the office and down the hall, sprinting quickly. To others it might seem like he was nothing but a yellow blur, but right now he could care less if someone were to question his speed.

Because his only priority right now is to rescue and save his friends.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Tadaaa! Chapter two! I hope you all enjoy it! The action has just started now! I was having a difficult time deciding how to write this chapter but I hope it's not too boring for you people Hope you enjoy! And please read and review!

Ja Ne


	3. Chapter 3

I just want to say that I DO NOT own either Naruto or Highschool of the Dead. And I hope you like the book. Please Read and Review! Thank you everyone for reviewing! It helps a lot and makes me feel really good haha.

About the whole left handed thing…I based it off of when Naruto's right arm was almost destroyed the first time he used the Rasenshuriken, and he was struggling to eat his ramen with his left hand. Sakura had offered to feed him due to his struggle. but

Pairings: NarutoxHarem

" **Speaking."** Kyuubi speaking

" ** _Thinking."_** Kyuubi thinking

"Speaking." Person speaking

" _Thinking."_ Person thinking

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

 **Deceiving The Apocalypse**

Chapter 3

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

"Attention all students! Violence has broken out on campus! Students should evacuate the campus according to their teachers' instructions. I repeat. Violence has broken out on campus! Students should evacuate campus-"

"They finally noticed, huh?"

Takashi, Rei, and Hisashi were all three standing in the middle of the hallway, listening to the overhead page. Takashi had witnessed the deaths at the front gate and his immediate thought was to go get Rei. He had interrupted the class and basically kidnapped her, with Hisashi agreeing to come along. As it looked, several more students had ditched the class and left, either to see for themselves or heeding his advice and escaping.

They heard the line get interrupted. Each of their faces were filled with worry, and for Rei, confusion. This all was happening so suddenly. She wasn't able to process what was happening at all.

Takashi grit his teeth. "No way…"

They all heard him start to scream and they flinched. His voiced sounded so horrified…

"Help! Save me!

Hirano Kohta was crawling out of the classroom, trying not to be noticed. He could over hear the screams in the hallway. He could feel his heart pounding. This couldn't be real? This had to be a sick joke right?

"Hirano."

He looked back and saw the attractive form of Takagi Saya. She was observing her surroundings with a critical eye while walking up to him. Finally, she met his eye. Crouching down next, Kohta could see that she was deadly serious.

"Takagi-san…" He whimpered out sheepishly. He was a nervous wreck.

She shushed him, glaring at the overweight teen. "We're getting out of here." She whispered. Hirano blinked, surprised.

"No! HELP ME!"

They flinched when they heard his cries. It was terrifying.

"Kocho-sensei!"

Rei, Takashi, and Hisashi gasped. Naruto?! What was Naruto doing there?

"Naruto…" Rei whispered worriedly, clutching her makeshift spear closer to her body.

"You fucking bastards!"

The next few seconds were filled with sounds of combat as horrified students sat frozen. They could hear the sounds of dripping, and bodies falling. The metallic 'schlink' of a knife piercing skin. Suddenly, the line went dead. Teachers and students froze. Time stood still.

A deafening quiet filled the school, an unavoidable nothingness. Each person could only hear their own heartbeat. Throats were dry, mouths were open. Each person took the time to realize exactly what the _fuck_ just happened. It was terror. Almost everyone realized just how terrorized they all were. And a single thought was shared collectively by a majority of the stock still beings.

" _I need to leave."_

Shrieks and screams filled the air as the sudden need to survive dominated every fiber of thought going through their heads. Body's ran over each other, pushing, shoving, punching, biting, and tearing their way into an exit. It was chaos. Utter and complete chaos. Panic outraged as every sense of humanity they had was suddenly squashed. Only a need to survive.

In a survival of the fittest…many hadn't made it past that point.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto darted through the halls, taking the few seconds to kill the few 'undead' as he had so deemed them. He grit his teeth, trying to save every person that he happened to come across. Naruto watched as a few students in the courtyard be bit, blood spraying and staining the ground with red. He turned the corner and rounded into the library, feeling the carpet beneath his feet and noticed immediately, that the library was filled with the undead.

"Ah!"

His blue eyes shot over to the top of the stairs where a pair of familiar looking girls were standing, scared. One had brown hair, tied up into a bun with two long bangs framing her face. She was staring at the stairway in surprise. The other had blue hair, braided down to the middle of her back, and her ankle was currently grabbed by an undead hand. Naruto recognized them as friends of is. Toshimi Niki and Ichijou Misuzu.

He growled and pushed some chakra into his legs. Pain flared to life from the use of his chakra, but he ignored it. He jumped forward and over the railing, spinning his kunai around his finger before bringing the blade down into the head of the undead, saving Niki from being pulled down. Naruto donkey kicked another undead walking up the stairs, sending it soaring through the air and landing with sickening crack on its neck at the bottom of the stairs.

Naruto looked at the shocked Niki and Misuzu, ignoring them briefly to focus on the undead that were making their way to the unsuspecting pair. Misuzu felt the air fly past her as Naruto shoulder checked an undead over and ducked under the other two undead's hands. He twirled his kunai to a forward grip. He jammed the kunai under the chin of the first undead. Then he jumped up, shooting both his legs up and locking them around the third undead's head. He spun his legs and his body quickly, snapping the neck of the creature. He let go of his kunai and landed on all fours.

Quickly he surveyed his surroundings, deeming that they were safe for the minute. He flinched in pain as the throbbing in his legs slowly dimmed. Holy fuck was that painful, even using that amount of chakra. He slowly stood, still feeling the pain in his legs. Naruto grabbed his kunai out of the undead's head, and wiped the blood off on it's uniform. He looked back at the two shocked girls. The blonde grinned and gave them a two finger salute, kunai in hand.

"Yo."

Niki started to shake, from being almost eaten and could feel tears in her eyes. Both at being saved, and from her near death experience. Misuzu grabbed hold of her best friend, to comfort both herself and the other girl.

"U-Uzumaki-kun…"

Naruto saw their expressions and knew this was not the time to start joking around. He nodded at them, deciding to keep them safe. "Come with me, I'll protect you. I'm going to go save the rest of my friends."

The girls looked between themselves then back at Naruto, nodding. He smirked then gestured for them to follow him. He kept his a normal pace now. Protecting the girls wouldn't do much good if he were to run off in head of them, now would it? Naruto could hear the two of them pant behind him. This situation must seem like a nightmare to them. He was sure that once they were out of danger, that the two girls would break down. But right now, he wouldn't let them. They had to keep moving.

Passing each doorway, Naruto took a second to peek inside, looking for survivors and his friends. Niki and Misuzu were quiet behind him still, except for their heavy breathing and now he could hear the faint sound of them crying. He cursed as they jogged down another hallway, killing a few creatures along the way.

Naruto looked out the window, looking at the carnage, and trying to see his friends running around. They had jogged around for quite a while now. And he could tell that his two companions were getting tired despite their adrenaline. He had cleared the upper floors. Now he should make his way down.

They descended a flight of stairs. Naruto being as quiet as possible. He peeked around a corner and cleared it for them, waving at them to follow. They seemed to have picked up on his unusual silence and didn't speak a word, thankfully.

" **Naruto."**

Naruto checked another room. Nothing. _"Yeah?"_

" **Is it wise to bring those two with you?"**

" _Probably not."_ Naruto couldn't help but glance at the two very scared and very shaken girls. _"But I'm going to find my friends and as many survivors as I can. I'm won't abandon my comrades."_

" **Maybe I should reword…"** The fox muttered through his head. **"I think you should put them in a safe place to rest while you look for your friends."**

Naruto paused, confusing the girl behind him. He studied them for a second. He suddenly grew concerned, startling the girls somewhat. "Hey…" He mumbled quietly. "Are you two alright?"

Toshimi felt her lip quiver and new tears started to fall. She put a hand over her mouth and choked out a sob. Misuzu gently hugged her best friend, giving the blonde a look.

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-kun…but do we look alright?" Naruto could tell that they were both stressed out, and running out of mental strength. "We've watched so many people die and my own best friend almost…" Her voice waivered and Toshimi sobbed harder, the thought lingered between them.

Naruto felt his face soften. "I'm sorry. I know it's rough. But we'll be okay. I'll make sure of it." He offered a small smile, hoping it would calm them down. "But right now, it might be best for me to put you in a room, where you'll be safe-"

"NO/No!"

Naruto reared back in shock at the simultaneous answer from the girls, Toshimi gripped her best friend harder. "No…" she said this softly. "Please don't leave us…"

Naruto couldn't find words to say. Misuzu's own tears started to fall as she looked at Naruto, pleading him with her eyes. "We want to stay with you."

Naruto studied them for a second. They looked ragged. Worn down, and clearly tired physically and mentally. But they were determined. Neither wanted to leave his side, him being a complete form of protection for the two. He smiled reassuringly at them.

" _Looks like we'll stick together."_

" **Seems to be."**

Naruto put a hand on his chest, puffing it up. "Alright then. You'll just have to stick with me from now on. I won't abandon you, I promise. And I always keep my promises." He tried to look as confident as possible to them. They both managed a small smile as well, despite their tears. He nodded and then waved for them to continue, heading down the corridor again.

They kept moving for a few minutes, Naruto had stopped to check each room for survivors or his friends and he'd be lying if he would say that he wasn't getting worried about them. His musings were interrupted by a weird noise coming from down the hall though. It sounded almost like something was shot, but it was strange. He couldn't pin point what it was…but one thing was for sure.

No undead could make a noise like that.

He jogged faster down the hallway before he heard voices as well. He couldn't help but get his hopes up. He really was praying that they all were safe… then he heard a scream and he felt his heart rate speed up. He looked at Niki and Misuzu behind him, who both had the same thoughts. Clearly it was a survivor. They hurried towards the scream.

The small group rounded the corner to see Saya crying as she drilled the head of an undead, blood and gore spraying and coating the small area…particularly Takagi. Naruto could see that the undead was dead, but his eyes were focused on the group of creatures that were also attracted by the sound of the scream. His eyes briefly registered the four other people across the room. Two of them being Takashi and Rei. He couldn't help but smile happily.

He crouched low and shot off at the zombies, earning the attention of the whole room. He whirled his kunai around and jumped up, kicking one back, while stabbing another in it's head. He ripped out the kunai just in time for an undead to try biting his shoulder. Quickly, he let go of the kunai and he grabbed the creature by the face. With a little bit of chakra, he hefted the thing over his shoulder and completely through it at two more undead. The kunai bounced as it clanged against the floor and he took that opportunity to kick it up into his hand as he darted forward, stabbing one creature through it's eye and finishing another off with a stab as well.

He went to go finish off the three undead on the floor when he saw Rei, Takashi, and another girl he didn't recognize each smash their head with their own respective weapons. One being a baseball bat, another being a mop handle and the third being a wooden sword. Naruto flinched in pain from the use of his chakra, this time he panted slightly. Oh god it felt like he was being torn apart. He smiled weakly at the group.

It was quiet except for Saya's weak cries as she stared in horror at the creature she had killed. Naruto crouched, trying to compose his own pain and breathing. He watched Rei and, as he now noticed her, Shizuka-sensei rush over to the pinkette.

"Takagi-san, are you okay?"

"Mi-Miyamoto…" She struggled to speak.

Naruto watched as Takashi closed the door to the outside, and locked it. Niki and Misuzu walked up to the group, looking happy. "I'm so glad there are more of us alive." Misuzu said, smiling at the others.

Blue eyes slid onto the form of the only person he wasn't familiar with. She had a beautiful frame, clearly exorcised regularly. Long, silky purple hair that reached down her back. She had angular, sharp eyes that were a light blue, but at the moment kind of looked purple. She carried herself with an aura of confidence, and despite the situation, Naruto noticed that she was calm and collected. He was surprised at that. She turned to Naruto, smiling softly.

"We are all acquainted with the school nurse, Marikawa-sensei…yes? I am Saeko Busujima of 3-A."

Oh. Now he understood. He didn't know her because she was a third year. Saeko was smiling at him, and he could see that she was trying to hide her impressed look. Naruto offered a small smile back.

"I'm Komuro Takashi from 2-B."

Naruto's eyes darted over to his brown haired friend, who was staring at Saeko intently. Another voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You're the same Busujima-senpai who won at the national championship last year? I'm in the Sojutsu club. My name is Miyamoto Rei."

Naruto looked over at the other group, feeling relieved that he had seen so many of his friends safe and sound. Minus any mental wounds that they might have. Naruto quickly noted that Hisashi was missing from the group though. He frowned.

"Ah, I'm um, Hirano Kohta from B."

"Ichijou Misuzu from 2-F."

"T-Toshimi Niki, 2-F."

Saeko smiled warmly at the group. "A pleasure to meet all of you." But she turned back to the blonde currently on the ground. "I'm sorry though I didn't catch your name…"

Naruto grinned scratching the back of his head sheepishly, bloody kunai in his hand. "Ah sorry, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

She nodded and saying his name seemed to have drawn attention to himself as Takashi hurried over to his friend, "Naruto, are you alright? You look kind of pale." He paused and he took a step back, slightly cautious of the blonde. "You weren't…you weren't bit were you?"

Naruto deadpanned at him. "Hell no." He didn't want to elaborate where his pain was coming from.

Takashi finally took a second to register his appearance… "Man, you look like shit. There's blood all over you."

The blonde finally took this opportunity to study his appearance. He looked down and noticed that indeed, his entire jacket was covered with flecks of blood, his shoes stained red and his hand was also covered in dry blood. He knew that his hair and face probably had a lot of blood in it as well. Suddenly he felt disgustingly dirty.

"Oh, yeah you're right." He muttered, agreeing with the brunette.

"What the…" A voice brought them out of their musings. Saya stood up, tears in her eyes and she turned to glare at all of them. "You're all so soft."

"' _Senpai_ ', Seriously?" Saya turned and glared at Rei with a disgusted look. "You two are the same age! You must not know how to count since you got held back a year!"

Naruto reeled in shock, Rei was held back a year? Since when? And why had she never bothered to tell him? Takashi clenched his hands at his sides. "Hey now, Takagi…" he started to chastise but was interrupted.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid!" She screamed at Takashi, Naruto hardened his face. He realized what was happening. She was going through shock. And she was taking it out on the closest things to her. Which happened to be the group. "I'm a genius! I can do anything once I put my mind to it! I'm…" she started to hyperventilate. "I'm…"

Saeko walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Enough." Saya looked at the lavenderette. "That is quite enough."

Saya's tears started to fill her eyes as she shook uncontrollably now. She looked to the side, noticing herself in the mirror. "Look how dirty I am… I need to tell Mom to get it cleaned…"

Naruto stood up, despite the pain in his legs and walked over to Saya, putting a hand on her shoulder as well, offering a comforting smile. Her tears started to fall and she felt a sob wrack her body. She slumped over into Naruto's chest and started to cry. He hugged her and pet her hair, trying to calm her down. Her legs started to give out and Naruto grabbed her before she fell over, cradling her into his chest.

Her sobs were the only sounds in the room as everyone looked on in a pained understanding. This was no normal situation. Everything about this was fucked up. Naruto lifted his eyes and looked into the mirror as well, noticing how cold his blue eyes looked. His face hand blood specked across it and his hair was a mixture of maroon and blonde. He looked like hell. Just like the world around him.

This was different than the war. This wasn't a fight to save the world for these people. This wasn't a battle over beliefs. No…This was something else entirely. This was a nightmare. Friends are dead, and family's survival is an unknown. He couldn't possibly understand what these people might be going through. His eyes flickered over to Rei again, and noticed that she was looking down. Her eyes lacked the sparkle in them that they usually have.

Hisashi had to be dead. Whether it was from the initial storm of panic, or if he was bitten by an undead, he wasn't sure. But he was almost positive that his survival was highly unlikely. He clenched his teeth, anger flowing through him. If only he hadn't skipped class… If only he had been there. Then he could have protected him, he could have protected so many more people. If only he –

"We should go find a place to rest for now."

His own inner anguish was interrupted by Takashi. He was right, he knew it. Blue eyes drifted over two the girls he had saved. They both looked exhausted. Requiring a much needed break, both mentally and physically. His eyes looked back at the rest of the group, noticing that most people seemed to be in the same boat, minus the purple haired beauty, Saeko.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "We should." He looked down at Saya. "Saya-chan, we're going to find some shelter for now, okay?" Weakly she nodded, but Naruto frowned. He stood up, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet as well. Solemn faces greeted him and he nodded in thought.

"I saw a room a little ways back that we can use."

Nods only answered him as they all followed him in silence, each in their own thoughts. Naruto kept his eyes peeled for anymore undead, but on the trip there, they didn't encounter anymore. Saya was actually uncomfortably close to him. He could tell it was because he was her pillar of support at the moment, and he shouldn't think anything more of it. Just like how Niki and Misuzu had refused to leave his side as well.

They got into the room, and he started to barricade the door. For now, it might trap them in, but they can rest easy without having to worry about any getting in. They can always take the barricade down later when they need to leave as well. Takashi and Kohta pitched in to help as well. The others took this opportunity to spread themselves out in the room, Saya had decided to head to the bathroom. Saeko was the first to break the silence.

"Everyone is exhausted, let's rest here for a little while."

Naruto slumped down in a chair next to Saeko, trying to ignore the dull aching in his limbs from his chakra use. Other than the pain, he still had a lot of stamina. But then again, he was used to training for hours upon hours each day. Not to mention this was nothing like the exhaustion he had felt after the war. After fighting for days on end with no rest.

Kohta walked over to Saya in the bathroom. "Takagi-san, are you okay?"

She stood up straight and put a pair of glasses on, blushing slightly in embarrassment. These were her backup glasses, just in case anything were to happen. She was very glad that she decided to carry them around with her in case of emergencies.

"G-Glasses!" Kohta choked out, blushing furiously. He thought she looked very cute in them.

Saya through the towel over his head, glaring at him. "What about them?!" She put her hands on her hips. "My contacts kept falling out!" she 'humphed' and walked by him, annoyed.

Naruto's eyes trailed her as she stomped out of the room. He couldn't help but smile a little noticing that she was recovering from earlier. The pinkette walked up to him and Saeko and plopped down into a chair next to them.

Naruto grinned at the pinkette. "I like the glasses. You look good in them." He gave her a thumbs up, and his teeth sparkled.

Saya reeled back in shock, her face heating up. "W-what?! Are you stupid?" She crossed her arms and looked away. "Nobody was asking you about anything!"

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He was unaware of the unwavering stare that Saeko was giving him. She smiled at the blonde though, enjoying his laid back personality.

"Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto's attention was drawn to the purple haired beauty next to him. He scowled slightly at the formality she used. But he didn't comment other than that.

"You fight pretty well…" Saeko started, earning the attention of the others in the room. "For a man with one arm."

Naruto blinked, looking down at the stump. "Oh this? Well, where I'm from, everyone kind of knows how to fight. This is nothing for me."

Saeko leaned her head on her arm, smiling at him. Her smile was kind and warm, extenuating her natural beauty. Naruto couldn't deny that she was very attractive and he actually almost blushed. "Hmmm? Really? Still, it was very impressive. Especially your feat of strength that you showed…"

"I agree." Saya spoke up, and now was staring at Naruto, like she was trying to figure him out. "You picked a body up…with one arm and threw it. Nobody should be able to do that."

Naruto sweat dropped, laughing nervously. "Oh, yeah? I guess I did do that, huh."

This time Misuzu and Niki walked over and sat on the desk next to Naruto, both staring at him as well. "Yeah, and you saved us as well. You look so natural fighting that it's scary." Misuzu started.

Niki nodded, "It's like you've been fighting your whole life."

Now everyone was staring at him and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed by all of the attention. "Y-yeah, I've been trained for this kinda of stuff for as long as I can remember."

Rei looked over at the blonde and couldn't help but mentally agree with the others who had spoken before.

For the first time since he's arrived, Rei looked at the blonde. Like, _really_ looked at him. He was lean, a body built for speed and endurance, but now it made sense to her. Naruto said he trained for this kind of stuff for as long as he could remember. His body was made to _fight._ It was made to…possibly kill…Naruto was slightly pale, maybe from overexertion, but everything he did right now seemed forced. Something was clearly wrong with him. Rei frowned, feeling slightly guilty. Despite such a dangerous situation, she had completely forgotten about the blonde. But in her mind it was understandable. Hisashi had died, and there was so much happening that she really hadn't thought about anything.

But the conversation she had with her father had actually shaken her up.

 _=Flashback=_

 _Takashi and Rei sat next to each other, the body of Hisashi lying in front of them. The question hung in the air between them. What was going on? Rei couldn't tear her eyes from her lover's body, no matter how much it hurt. Around the corner on the roof, they both could hear the things pounding against the barricade that they had made. She looked over at Takashi who was glaring down at the ground._

" _What is it?" She asked quietly._

 _He frowned, "Well, I want to know what's really going on."_

 _She looked back at Hisashi's body_. " _That was blunt." She stated._

" _Why would I lie to you?"_

 _Takashi scratched his head, internally thinking of a way out of this messed up situation. Rei couldn't help the sad tiny smile that played on her lips. She stood up, holding out her hand. "Can I see your phone? I wanna try calling my dad."_

 _Takashi stood up as well, getting his phone out and handing it too her. She started to dial. "I know he's a cop, but how are you gonna contact him when even the police emergency line is busy?"_

 _She hit the talk button to start the call and smiled at him, "He gave me a private number that I'm not supposed to normally use." She could hear ringing, and then it connected. She felt hope rise in her chest._

" _Tou-san!?"_

 _She could hear his voice through the line, "Hello? This phone number…Takashi's?" He didn't seem to have heard her._

" _Otou-san? Listen Otou-san, we're at school right now-"_

 _He cut her off, "Hello? Is this Takashi? Rei must've given you this number. Is she okay?" Static started to come through. "My connection…"_

 _Rei felt desperate, she wanted him to talk to her, she wanted him to say he loved her. She wanted him to say he was okay, and that it'll all be okay. "Otou-san!? You can't hear my voice!?"_

" _Listen, this whole city is in a state of panic. Takashi you have to do something for me. You MUST find Uzumaki Naruto!"_

 _Rei's eye's widened, "Naruto?"_

" _Listen Takashi! Find Uzumaki Naruto! He'll protect you and Rei, okay? Trust him, and listen to him!"_

 _Rei flinched when she heard a gunshot on his head, her eyes wide and disbelieving. It was quiet for a second, but his voice came back again through the phone. "Okay? Find Naruto! He'll protect you! He'll get you out of here safely, leave ASAP-"_

 _The line went dead, and she felt her eyes prick with tears. She looked at the phone and noticed that it said 'No Service' Her eyes widened. "The line's dead!? But I just got through! Why?! WHY?!"_

 _Takashi looked at her, concerned and confused. "Rei!"_

 _Rei turned to him, now she could feel her tears streaming down her face. She couldn't hold it in. "Takashi…Otou-san…didn't even know it was me." She put her face in her hands and slumped on the ground. Takashi stared at her, unable to comfort her in his own shock._

 _=Flashback End=_

Rei decided not to tell Takashi about Naruto. Her father had definitely insisted that she find Naruto. That Naruto would protect her. Why? Why would her father think that about Naruto? What did her father know about him? Naruto was clearly hiding something, and his combat abilities were far more impressive than anyone's she's seen as of today, but what was it about him that her father was 100% sure that he would protect her?

Her eyes lingered on the blood on Naruto's body. He looked worse for wear. Worse than anyone else that is. She guessed that is what happened when Naruto practically slaughters the undead that approaches anyone in his group. She blinked when she realized that she had called everyone here, _his group…_ Could she subconsciously think that Naruto was their leader or something? The one to take on the responsibility of taking care of them? She took a deep breath and cast her thoughts to the side, this was not the time or the place to be having such complicated thoughts. She handed the water to everyone, but lastly Naruto. She walked up and smiled at her friend, noticing his eyes lifted to her form briefly, acknowledging her presence.

"Here." She said, holding the bottle out.

Naruto looked surprised, having probably been deep in his own thoughts. He does that quite frequently and although this is a serious situation, She wasn't used to Naruto being as quiet as he has been. Naruto smiled gratefully at her, his blue baring into her ruby red eyes.

"Thank you, Rei-chan."

She ignored the heat coming to her face. Her eyes drifted to his mop of golden hair, currently matted down and lumpy due to blood. What a disappointing sight. She's always liked his hair. She tilted her head in thought. "Hmmmm. You should go wash up in the bathroom. You're filthy… I can help you with your hair." As embarrassed as she was, she offered her assistance.

Naruto blinked, tilting his head. He laughed lightly. It was a nice sound. "Do I really look that bad?"

She giggled, "You look like hell."

Naruto stood up, grinning now. "Well let's get started then." He mock saluted to her. "Lead the way, Captain!"

She giggled again, but walked over to the bathroom, the blonde hot on her heels. Both were ignorant of Takashi's watchful eyes, following them as they retreated. His eyes lingered on Rei's back as she led the blonde into the bathroom. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, mostly derived from jealousy. He never had anything against Naruto, but if Rei should be helping anyone…it should be him.

Naruto turned the water on, and waited for it to get warm. While he waited he took off his jacket, showing the near perfect orange shirt that was underneath. Faintly, he heard Takashi ask Shizuka where her car keys were. Naruto put his hand under the water, watching as the blood slowly washed away, staining it a brownish color.

After his hand was clean enough, he brought his face down and started to scrub off his face. Once more, washing the blood off and turning the water into a murky brown. After that was said, he looked over at Rei and smiled.

"If you could wash my hair for me, that'd be great."

He leaned over and dipped his head under the stream, closing his eyes. Rei didn't say anything but he could feel her gentle soft hands hesitant as it ran through his golden locks. He allowed himself to relax as Rei rinsed through his hair, playing and scratching his scalp. It was very relaxing.

"I'm surprised…" Naruto heard her mutter.

He hmm'ed a questioning response. Thankfully she continued. "I'm surprised at how soft your hair is…it's so silky and soft. Even with all this gunk in it."

Naruto was melting into her hands. It felt so good just to have someone play with your hair. He sighed, contently. "Hmm…I've been told that before."

Naruto leaned up after Rei had stopped massaging his scalp, and dried it off with the towel that Saya used earlier. He shook the remainder droplets from his hair, but it was still pretty damp. He grinned at Rei and gave her a thumbs up.

"Thanks a lot, Rei-chan. Means a lot."

She smiled and nodded at him. "That's what friends are for, right?"

He nodded but they both were brought out of their musings by the other people in the room. "What of the miniature buses used for club activities? They keys hang from the wall in here." Saeko had mused out loud.

Kohta peeked through the window and nodded, "They're here!"

Shizuka looked back towards everyone, tilting her head. "That should work, but where are we going?"

"To check on families, of course."

They all looked at Naruto who walked into the room, Rei beside him. Despite agreeing with Naruto, he couldn't help but slightly glare at him. Once again, his irritation spiking from jealousy.

Takashi stood up from his sitting position. "We'll stop by everyone's home going from closest to furthest. And if we have to, we'll help our families too. Once we're done, we'll find a safe place to stay."

Naruto nodded in agreement. Seemed like a good plan. The silence in the room happened to stifle any thought process he had. He looked around and noticed a few of them had their eyes glued to the television. Curiously, he looked up at the TV. Takashi walked up next to Rei, looking over her shoulder. Saeko grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, allowing everyone to hear the TV better.

"…government has started to do something about this on-going revolt. However, the politicians-"

Takashi growled slightly. "Revolt? They're calling this a revolt?"

Saeko changed the channel, another news network pooped up. "The number of deaths in the Saitama prefecture already exceeds 10,000. The prefectural governor has declared a state of emergency-"

She was interrupted by gunshots, and she screamed. Footage on the TV switched over to look at body bags that were sitting up. The police shot the body bags in the heads, but the news anchor was screaming in terror. Suddenly the camera was dropped, showing signs of the undead walking. The TV line went dead shortly after that.

They all were shocked, but Naruto had a grim look on his face. This is bad. 10,000 deaths at the minimum _already_. This is very bad. He looked over at the group, noticing their slack jaws and wide eyes. Niki and Misuzu were hugging each other, looking ready to cry. The news station switched to another lady, who proceeded to tell them that there was an issue and everyone should stay in their homes until safe.

Takashi punched the desk in irritation. "That's all? Why aren't they saying more?"

"Because they're afraid of causing a panic."

Eyes turned to Saya as she looked at everyone, a serious look on her face. Naruto couldn't help but snort. His response was ignored by everyone.

Rei turned to Saya, "Even now?"

Saya flicked her hair, "Because of what happened just now!" she pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Fear leads to chaos, chaos leads to anarchy. How would you expect the government to deal with the living dead in a time of anarchy?"

They watched the international news, hearing how it was spread over to America and Mascow, and France. Almost everywhere. Takashi looked down in disbelief. "So they're all over the world…"

Naruto's eyes travelled over to the brunette, feeling his despair. Kohta looked just as upset. "But how? When I was surfing the web this morning, it was business as usual…"

"I can't believe it only took a few hours for the world to become like this." Rei looked shocked, but she inched closer to Naruto, grabbing onto his sleeve and looking up to him, slightly hopeful. "Don't you feel the same? But there must be some place that's safe, right? Like your home, Naruto? And soon, things will be back to normal."

Naruto sighed, going to answer her, but the pinkette beat him to the punch. "Keep dreaming." She had her hands on her hips.

Takashi took a step towards her, "Do you really have to say it like that?"

Naruto glanced over at Takashi. Despite how nice Takashi was, Saya is correct. And she's blunt. Something that is good to have in these troubling times. He internally sighed. No matter where he goes, trouble seems to follow him.

"This is a pandemic." She turned to Takashi, "What am I supposed to say?"

Shizuka gasped and put a hand to her chin. "A pandemic you say…?"

Saya nodded, "It's when an epidemic of infectious disease spreads. So the same disease that has infected people here is spreading throughout the world."

Naruto sweat dropped and blanched. What the hell were those words even supposed to mean? Saya-chan. Please talk dumber to him. He made a face in confused frustration. Thankfully nobody had picked up on his cluelessness.

"Like the influenza?"

"More like the Spanish Flue of 1918." Saya informed.

Naruto frowned. Wow, this world has so many diseases. What is causing them? His world never had such illnesses such as these.

"Isn't this more like the Black Death of the 14th century?" Shizuka questioned. Naruto looked at her. Black Death? What a cool name.

Saya looked down, frowning. "Europe's population went down by a third during that."

"How did those diseases stop?" Takashi asked the pinkette.

Shizuka sighed, grabbing onto her arm. "There a lot of theories…" She started. "But the reason why diseases like those 'die' is because they killed so many that there's not enough people left to spread it."

Naruto sighed. Man…what a pain. Shikamaru would be pretty proud of him at the moment. This is all just a hassle. Couldn't he had lived in peace until his friends came and got him? That would be the preferred option, please and thank you. God, rewind this day and start over. Or he'll come kick your ass.

"But..." Ocean blue eyes were drawn to the chubby boy by the window, looking outside at the undead that was wondering the courtyard. "In this case, the dead are moving around and attacking people."

"Then you are implying it has no reason to stop spreading?" Saeko asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

Shizuka perked up, "Oh but it's hot outside! Maybe their flesh will start decomposing and they won't be able to move!" A valid thought process really. A big mess to clean up, but at least it could be a solution.

Saeko turned to the big busted teacher. "And what is the duration of this process?"

Shizuka started to count on her fingers. "Well, during summer, it takes around 22 days for some parts of the body to decompose. But during the winter, it can take months." She perked up near the end. "However, if we go to hour homes-"

"How do we know they'll even start to decompose?" Saya interrupted, bringing up a valid argument.

"Why do you say that?" Takashi asked.

"Don't these things defy our knowledge of medicine? So why bother relying on it? It could be hopeless. Just how long…"

Saeko crossed her arms and hmm'ed. "What is important is having a location to make use of after we check on our families. Should we act only in our own self-interest, we don't stand a chance. Let's act as a team."

Several nods later, they all brandished their respective weapons. The silence was interrupted by none other than Niki, who until now was very quiet.

"What does Uzumaki-kun think of all of this?"

Her one question brought the entire focus of the room onto Naruto. He merely stared out the window, thinking of the best way to tell them that he thought their world was fucked. But maybe it wasn't a good thing to even let them know about his inner thoughts. It could bring down team morale and disrupt their spirits. An underrated, but heavy factor in the hope to survive. Maybe he shouldn't tell them either that his chances of survival would actually increase if he were to be alone.

Naruto turned toward the blue haired girl. "This is all a mess. If they do decompose, great. If not, oh well. I'll do anything and everything to make sure all of you are safe and sound. Families included." He turned and smiled at the group. "I don't have a family of my own, but all of you guys are now. I'll never let anything happen to you."

Several smiles responded to him, earning them their trust and their kinship. Naruto nodded back and stood to his full height. At least a half a head taller than everyone else there. "How do we get out?"

Saya nodded, "The front door is closest to the parking lot."

Naruto nodded and started to walk in front of everyone, "Let's go then."

After they unbarricaded the door, they opened it and outside of the room were a few stranglers. Kohta took down two of them, and Takashi charged the last one, bashing it's head in with his bat. Naruto gave him a grin and a thumbs up as they all continued to walk. Sometime later, they stopped on a staircase, looking down.

"Just to confirm…" Saeko started. "You need not begin fighting unless it is inevitable. Refrain from fighting when the opportunity arises."

Saya nodded, "They only react to sound. Additionally, they're powerful enough to break down a normal door. So once they get a hold of you, you're gonna get eaten. Be careful."

A scream interrupted them and they all looked down the stairs a small group of students. Three boys and two girls fighting off zombies on the stairwell. They all watched in surprise as the zombies closed in on them.

Naruto stepped forward, slightly smirking. He earned looks of surprise from the group as he hopped onto the railing, and casually jumped off after the group. Right as an undead was about to grab the middle boy with a bat, he landed on top of the creatures head, forcing his head into the concrete and crushing it beneath his weight.

The others were quick to follow his lead as they went to go attack a few undead themselves. Naruto merely whipped out his kunai again, stabbing one undead in the head, and using his strength to throw that creature into another one, knocking both of them off the side of the railing and down below. Takashi, Saeko, and Rei had all finished killing off of their undead opponents. No more creatures remained on the stairs for now.

Naruto turned to the group and grinned at them. "You're safe now."

One of the girls smiled in relief. "T-Thank you!"

Saeko nodded, "Not too loud now…" She turned to them fully. "Is there anyone among you who's been bitten?"

The same girl shook her head, holding up her hands in defense. "No! We're all okay."

Rei walked up to them as well, smiling at Saeko. "They really do look fine."

Naruto waved it off, "Well, you're free to come with us. We're leaving this popsicle stand…" He eyed them from the corner of his eye, smirking slightly. "The more the merrier."

The girl nodded, looking much relieved. "Yes!"

They continued walking, mostly in silence until they reached the front entrance. Naruto hung back a little behind them, covering their rear. Takashi was leaning over the railing. "There's a lot of them down there…"

Saya frowned, pouting in irritation. "What's the point of hiding here? They use their ears, not their eyes."

Takashi gave her an exasperated look. "Then why don't you prove that for us, Takagi?"

She flinched at the thought of going down there. Naruto eyed her, aware of how smart she is. If she were to think of this, there had to be a reason behind it. He didn't want to believe her without having proof, but he was hard pressed to find anything that she had said up until now to be false. Saeko frowned beside him.

"Regardless, if we remain inside of the school as such, we will be unable to move once attacked."

Rei clenched her teeth in frustration. "No way out except the front gate, huh?"

Saeko nodded. "We require someone to confirm the truth behind Takagi's words."

The unspoken question hung in the air between everyone. Takashi looked torn, but he could see nobody else volunteering to go. He sighed.

"I'll go."

Takashi looked up the stair in surprise, along with everyone else. Naruto stood there, with a smile on his face. Takashi felt a little relieved, to be honest. He didn't want to go down there. But he didn't want to see anyone else go down there even more. At least he knew Naruto would be okay. He was crafty and as slippery as a greasy hog.

Several heads as well looked up at Naruto in surprise. Rei leaned towards Naruto, "No Takashi, I'll-"

She was cut off by Saeko speaking, "It would be more preferable if I were to go ahead of you, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto scrunched his nose. "Ma, don't be so loud. And don't call me Uzumaki-kun. Call me Naruto. I hate formalities." He mumbled under his breath. "Besides, I trust Saya-chan with my life. And I know that she's like crazy smart, so to guess something like this has to have some sort of backbone, right?"

He grinned over at the pinkette who blushed in surprise. She looked away glaring at the wall. "Well, that's because I at least have some brains. Unlike someone I know."

Naruto chuckled, ignoring the worried looks from the rest of the students there. "Well then it's decided. See you soon."

With a small wave he walked by them all, as quiet as a cat. He walked down the stairs, kunai at the ready, but he had a relaxed posture. His eyes flickered between the undead creatures moaning and roaming the halls. No destination set. He could feel the eyes of his friends on his back, boring holes into him. They all couldn't help but think about just how quiet he was when he was walking. He was dead silent.

He walked directly up to one undead and stared at it's eyes, noses almost touching. Naruto flinched at the foul smell emitted from the thing. Several more undead tumbled their way around the blonde, who dodged out of the contact. He circled them. He danced in front of one. And finally he took the chance to poke one in the forehead. None of them had reacted to the blonde, since he was as quiet as death itself. Naruto looked around him and noticed a shoe laying in the middle of the floor. He gently went down and picked it up. He through it down the hallway quite some ways, knocking against a locker and creating noise.

Naruto watched as the undead wandered over to where the sound came from and tilted his head. They all passed by him, and one even bumped into him. Still no reaction out of them though. Naruto looked towards the group and grinned, giving them a thumbs up. A few of them smiled in relief before quietly walking down the stairs.

At least to them, they sounded quiet. To Naruto, he felt like they were basically stomping. He sweat dropped at their stealth and sighed. He might need to work with them about that. Naruto watched as they all walked down the stairs. Saeko rushed to the door, quietly opening it and ushering them all through.

As the last boy was walking down the stairs, his pole that he was holding onto banged into the railing, echoing loudly and far. Naruto blanched in horror. These kids are trying to make this hard on him. He sighed and glared daggers into the boy. His thoughts were interrupted by Takashi yelling out.

"Run!"

Not being told twice, several of them broke out into a sprint, intending on getting there faster. Saya glared at Takashi's back. "Why'd you do that? If you hadn't yelled, we'd probably only have to worry about the ones close to us!"

An undead suddenly appeared beside her, going in for the kill. Saya froze in terror, seeing the creature about to take a bite. He was stopped short and slumped over to the ground as Naruto pulled his kunai out of his hand. He stared down at the thing then looked at Saya, smiling slightly.

Rei yelled back at the pinkette. "No way! Didn't you hear that echo?!"

Naruto pushed back Saya, who was staring in shock, and walked in front of Kohta, launching himself at one of the undead. His kunai ripped through a portion of his head, and he spun to the left, stabbing another one in the back of its head before hurling forward at another one. He thrust the kunai forward and buried it hilt deep into the skill of the undead. He stared at the thing with disdain.

He turned towards his group, who were surprised again at his quick speed and power. He growled low at them. "No talking, only running."

They didn't need to be told twice as they all lurched forward, sprinting up to where Naruto was. Naruto on the other hand was making a clear as day path for them, mowing down any undead in front of him with terrifying skill and accuracy. He faintly registered that his once clean hair was now sopping wet with flecks of blood and gore.

The rest of the group killed any undead that was spared from Naruto's massacre. All of them were running behind him, watching is sick fascination as body parts, blood, and bodies were flying left and right. Naruto being in the epicenter of it all. Time seemed to slow down as they saw Naruto swing his kunai around, his body facing them now. Naruto's eyes were shining with determination and he had a scowl on his face. He was completely drenched in blood, actually having it drip off of his chin and from his hair. It was a terrifying sight to be honest.

Naruto led them into the parking lot, still a spinning whirl of death and blood. Naruto looked back behind him to see how his friends were faring. Despite his absolute destruction, they were still struggling with how many undead there were. His eyes flickered to the new students they had acquired and noticed one of the boys was being surrounded.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the teen be grabbed by an undead. He unconsciously pushed chakra into his legs and sprinted backwards. He was nothing but a blur of blonde as he raced past everyone. Saeko and Takashi who were following him in the front froze staring at the spot that he once was at. The wind that raced past them was blonde, but there wasn't any possible way that any human could run that fast. Both of their eyes were wide in shock.

Rei and Kohta backpedaled as Naruto sprinted past them as well, knocking Rei onto her butt. Both looked behind the and stared at where Naruto would have been going. Saeko and Takashi both looked behind just in time to see Naruto shoulder check two undead that surrounded the other teen.

One of the girls turned around with tears in her eyes, "Takuzo!"

The newly named Takuzo hadn't registered that Naruto had been next to him yet and he looked at his girlfriend. "Naomi! Run!"

Naomi went to go to Takuzo, but Saya grabbed her arm. "There's too many of them!" The pinkette's eyes lingered on Naruto's body, which was tearing through the creatures at an alarming rate.

Naomi looked at Saya then looked as her boyfriend was bit by an undead. A second after that, Naruto stabbed the creature in the head. Naruto saw the bite and clenched his teeth in frustration and pain. He was tired of losing people that he said he'd protect. If only he had his chakra network fixed. If only he had been faster. Naruto spun around and slashed two undead's faces clean in half, while spinning around and roundhouse kicking another away.

He recognized that there were too many, but he had made a clearing in them for now. He grabbed the back of Takuzo's shirt and pulled him to his feet, pushing him forward. "Go! Run!" He yelled at the teen.

Takuzo didn't need to be told twice as he sprinted forward, tumbling slightly. Naruto was hot on his heels, slaying any creature that got anywhere near them. Takuzo ran up to Naomi and hugged her. Naruto pushed the two of them forward, not willing to loose another member.

"Hug later, run now!"

They followed his orders and Naruto glared at the back of Takuzo. He had been bit. He was lost. But he'll let him say goodbye to his loved one for now. Saya ran beside Naruto, glaring at him.

"He's been bit you know. He's a goner."

Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eyes, simultaneously stabbing an undead in it's head. "I know. But at least he'll get a chance to say goodbye. I'll finish him before he turns."

Saya reeled in shock. Naruto had his grim eyes locked onto Takuzo's running frame, which he was already paler and coughing. Saya didn't say anything in response to Naruto as they ran side by side, Naruto protecting the pinkette from any harm coming to her.

They all ran up to the bus and Takashi yelled at Shizuka, "Sensei! The key!"

Shizuka opened up the bus and went inside, going to the driver's seat. Saya and Kohta followed shortly. Kohta opened up a window and aimed outside, smirking slightly. Niki and Misuzu all climbed in a seat in the front, staring out the window as the others defended their bus. Naomi and Takuzo's group hobbled onto the bus as well, Takuzo slumping down in the first seat available, breathing heavy and covering his wound. Naomi was sitting next to him and caring for him.

Kohta looked around out the window, aiming down sights.

"Target? Check. Public safety? Check. Ready to rock and roll!"

Saya gave him a disgusted look, already irritated with him. "Hurry up and shoot them already!"

Kohta pushed his glasses up and smirked, but then shrieked when a head impacted the window next to him. He turned to see who had done it to see Naruto sheepishly scratching the back of his head, undead slowly surrounding him.

"Watch where you kill things!" Kohta shrieked at Naruto

The blonde waved him off, yelling a quick apology to him while jumping up to Takashi and assisting in killing a few undead. Naruto grinned at Takashi, giving him a thumbs up.

Saeko, next to the duo, looked back behind her. "They're all in, Uzumaki-kun!"

Naruto nodded, and killed another undead, "Ladies first, Saeko-chan!"

Saeko blinked in surprise at Naruto's use of her given name. She couldn't help but laugh a little despite the situation. Rei ran by her, grabbing her wrist. "You get used to him." She smiled at Saeko sheepishly.

Inside Shizuka turned on the vehicle, looking worried. "This isn't like my car. Uh… let's see…The gas, the clutch, the brake…" She made a mental checklist, remembering for later as she stared at the console in front of her.

Rei, Saeko, and Takashi all climbed onto the bus, as Naruto killed a few more undead that were getting too close to the vehicle for his liking. Just as he was about to climb on, they all heard someone yell from the parking lot.

"Help us!"

Naruto turned around and saw a group of students sprinting through the parking lot towards the bus. His eyes widened when he saw Tsunoda leading the group. Naruto smirked slightly, happy to have the fake blonde delinquent survive.

Takashi stared off, the others as well. "Who's that?"

Saeko is the one who answered. "That is Shido. He teaches 3-A."

Rei was glaring at the group, rage barely controlled. She whispered lowly. "Leave them."

Shizuka turned around and yelled at the group. "We're ready to go!"

"Wait!" Naruto yelled from outside, "We have to help them!"

"There's some swarming the front!" Naruto looked at the front of the bus and saw that there was indeed too many in the front. He growled in frustration. "I can't drive if there's too many of them bunched together!" Shizuka argued.

Takashi glared at Shizuka, "Then just run them over!"

Saya crossed her arms in her seat. "If we do that with this bus, we'll end up rolling over!"

"Understood!"

They're attention was drawn to the blonde, now red head, that was standing at the door, grinning at them all. "I'd said I'd protect you, didn't it?"

Rei looked horrified, "Wait, you don't have too! Don't save that man!"

Naruto paused, looking at her. "It's not just the guy I'm saving. It's all of them. You can count on me!"

With that, Naruto took off to the front of the bus. Almost everyone reached out their hand to him, almost begging him to come back. Naruto jumped up, ignoring the pain in his body, and landed his feet onto the face of an undead, stabbing another in the head. As his temporary landing fell beneath him, he ripped the kunai out and stabbed its head. He jumped off of it and ducked under grabbing arms, upper cutting the creature with his kunai, sending it flying back and tearing it's jaw in half.

On the bus, they watched as Naruto literally sliced through the undead, creating yet another opening for them.

"Amazing…" Saeko whispered, watching the blonde with fascinated eyes. "I've never seen anyone fight like this."

Takashi nodded, "It's like he's been fighting them for all of his life."

How little they had known.

Shido stopped and ushered the group forward. "Everyone! Forward! I guarantee you'll make it out alive!"

Naruto watched as their group suddenly ran faster, encouraged by the sensei's words. He faltered slightly when he saw the last student trip and slide into Shido. Naruto's eyes widened, he must have been hurt!

The boy grabbed the pant leg of Shido's, yelling out. "I sprained my ankle!"

Naruto watched as Shido did nothing, but then lifted a leg to kick the student in the face. Rage boiled up inside him as the student started to cry out in pain, clutching his face. Naruto growled and quickly killed two undead near him, but watching as the creatures slowly surrounded the pair. Naruto crouched down, anger boiling inside him. This man abandoned his comrades, fating them to a hell far worse than death.

" _Kurama, I'll need your help_ " as he was ready to take off, ignoring the pain coursing through his body.

" **You realize this will hurt far worse than your own chakra, correct?"**

" _I don't give a fuck!"_

With a mental nod, Kurama sent just a tiny bit of his chakra into Naruto's body. "Naaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggghhh!" Naruto grunted/yelled out in pain.

The students on the bus turned their attention to Naruto, who had yelled out. They feared that maybe he was bitten. What was the actual truth surprised them much more. Undead bodies surrounded Naruto, and he was sweating profusely with a pained expression on his face.

Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light.

Their eyes widened, completely gaping as Naruto suddenly was covered in golden flames, His hair shining, his clothes merging into it, there was a spiral on his stomach in black, and the spiral connected to thick black lines that extended through every limb. As sudden as Naruto became that, he was suddenly gone. Disappearing completely from their view.

"What the fu-"Takashi stated the one thing on everyone's head.

He was interrupted by a roar from the blonde currently on everyone's mind. They looked back at the group and gasped, seeing Naruto fighting off undead after undead, protecting the boy on the ground. The students made it to the bus, and started to climb aboard. Nobody was able to argue with them due to their own shell shocked reaction.

Naruto grunted in pain. It was searing. It was mind boggling. He felt like all of his muscles were torn apart and he was forced to run a mile on them. This won't subside any time soon. If not for his high tolerance of pain, and his sheer determination…he might be writhing in pain on the ground.

Naruto's cloak was gone as he basically teleported over to where the boy was down, just in time to save him from being bit. He slashed, stabbed, ducked, and punched his way through the crowd of creatures. The boy on the ground staring up at him in complete astonishment. Naruto's presence was overwhelming. He almost commanded your attention as he fought, tearing through his enemies like a wild animal.

Naruto finally took a second to breath, panting heavily from the pain. He had cleared enough of a path to escape. He chucked his kunai into the his pocket quickly, and reached down and grabbed the boy harshly by his shirt, lifting him off the ground and proceeded to man handle the teen onto his shoulder.

With a grunt of pain, Naruto pushed more chakra into his legs and sprinted off towards the bus. To everyone it merely seemed like a blonde blur suddenly appeared at the entrance. Naruto hopped into the bus, throwing the injured student in a seat and collapsing on the ground, muscles screaming at him.

Despite their shock, Takashi closed the door and turned to the blonde driving. "Sensei! Go!"

Shizuka put the bus in gear and floored it, "We're off!"

The all braced themselves as the bus lurched forward, tires screeching. She navigated the bus through the much thinned crowd and drove towards the front gate.

Saya stood up, watching in anticipation as their last attempt at escape will prove to either be a failure or a success. "To the gate!"

Shizuka nodded, "I know!" she gasped as she saw a giant horde was slowly approaching from right in head of her.

She clenched her teeth in pain, "They're not humans." She narrowed her eyes. "They're not humans anymore!

She pushed the gas pedal down some more, switching gears, and plowed through them. The sound of bodies and blood splattering the windshield would forever haunt their dreams. Naruto was still on the ground, sweating and breathing raggedly.

The bus plowed through the gates, breaking it open without issue, and Shizuka controlled the bus as it sharply turned onto the road. The bus sped down the road, intent on getting out of that hell hole as fast as possible.

Silence followed the bus drive, minus the coughing from Takuzo and Naruto's heavy breathing. Takashi looked down at the blonde, and it seemed like nobody else wanted to get close to him.

"Looks like we made it."

Saeko was wiping off her bokken, eyes lingering on the blonde lying on the floor of the bus as well. It seemed as though almost everyone was staring at him. Naruto slowly sat up, sitting crossed legged. He leaned his back against the pole and his eyes opened, lingering over to Takuzo.

Nobody spoke. They all were just trying to figure out what the hell happened out there. One thing was for sure…A thought that hung in the air of the bus, stifle any conversation from starting…

What Naruto had done…no human should have been able to do that.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Chapter three complete! Please, If you have questions, don't forget to review, or pm me. I'll answer either. But if it involves a spoiler of the future plot line, that I WILL NOT answer. Just wouldn't be fun, would it?

So. The survivors that we have so far are as following.

Naruto, Takashi, Saeko, Rei, Kohta, Saya, Shizuka, Niki, Misuzu, Naomi, Takuzo, the three other unnamed students, Shido, Tsunoda, The boy Naruto saved, Yuki, The two girls with Shido, and Yamada

21 people on that bus. It's cramped, but Naruto is changing the plotline by rescuing more people. So far out of everyone that has joined forces, Naruto's only lost one person. Which is Takuzo, since he has been bitten. Let's see how he handles this next chapter, eh?

Thanks for reading!

Ja Ne


	4. Chapter 4

I just want to say that I DO NOT own either Naruto or Highschool of the Dead. And I hope you like the book. Please Read and Review! Thank you everyone for reviewing! It helps a lot and makes me feel really good haha.

Pairings: NarutoxHarem

" **Speaking."** Kyuubi speaking

" ** _Thinking."_** Kyuubi thinking

"Speaking." Person speaking

" _Thinking."_ Person thinking

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

 **Deceiving The Apocalypse**

Chapter 4

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

The bus was silent.

The rumble of the engine, and the miscellaneous noises were the only sounds. Nobody wanted to break the silence. Mostly due to the shock of the day, and their exhaustion, but some of it equaled their concern to the wounded. A wet and ragged cough was the first thing to break the silence. Takuzo was sitting in the seat, looking very pale, almost greenish. He had bags under his eyes, and he had just coughed up some blood. Sweat was pouring down his forehead. He didn't look like he'd last longer than 15 minutes.

Naruto, despite the pain in his whole body, stood up from his sitting position earning the attention of basically the whole bus. He took a few steps until he was in front of Naomi and Takuzo, crouching down.

"Let me see." He all but demanded. Eyes were serious.

Everyone knew that he was a goner. Whether or not the two lovers knew was an entirely different matter… Takuzo held his arm out and Naruto gingerly grabbed it. He pushed the teen's sleeve up his arm, showing the bite mark. It was deep, a big gouge. The surrounding skin around the bite was already a dark grey. It had stopped bleeding, but…Ocean blue eyes lifted slowly to look into Takuzo's brown eyes.

He smiled sadly at the boy. "Looks painful."

Takuzo nodded, coughing some more. "It is."

Naruto dropped his arm and ran a hand through his hair. He regretted doing that, since all that happened was him getting his hands sticky from the blood that was already in his hair. He wiped his hands off on his pants. He sat on his haunches, thinking of how to approach this situation. Trying to ease into it might be a bad idea. Naruto's eyes now drifted over to Naomi, who was clinging to Takuzo's shoulder. Naruto was sure, that whatever would happen next wouldn't be easy for the girl. But that won't change a thing.

It was going to happen. Takuzo will die.

Naruto sighed, looking up at them again. "Do you know what happens when you're bit?" He asked softly, as if the three of them were the only ones there. It was a talent of Naruto's. When he talked to you, you felt important. Nobody else mattered.

Naomi's barely contained sob made Naruto look at her sadly. Takuzo smiled bitterly. "Yeah I do…"

"N-No! Takuzo's different, he won't turn into one of them! We can save him!" Naomi choked out, grabbing onto Naruto's arm, as if begging him.

Rei flinched. It was basically the exact same thing she had said when she was on the roof with Hisashi and Takashi. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but Takuzo beat him to it. It was probably better for the girl to hear it from him anyway.

"No, Naomi, there isn't. Even if there was a way to stop this, we've wasted too much time…" Tears sprang into his eyes. "Soon, I'll be one of them. But I don't want to be one…"

Naomi sobbed and Naruto felt his eyes moisten. Takuzo was putting on a brave face, for his girlfriend, and for everyone on the bus. He nodded at the brunette, trying to hide his own pain. "You don't have much time left…"

Naomi clutched onto Naruto, "No! There has to be something we can do!" she turned towards her boyfriend. "I can't just let you d-die! We can save you! We have to-we can do something! I-I can't…I can't…" Tears were freely falling from her eyes now. "I can't live without you…" She sobbed into his shoulder, gasping for air and crying loudly. The bus was silently listening to them. The situations reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings.

Takuzo shot Naruto a pleading look. One Naruto understood quite well. He needn't voice his thoughts for him to know what Takuzo wanted. He wanted to be alone with Naomi. To have their moment intimate. Naruto felt his heart break, swallowing a lump in his throat. He nodded. He must be strong. He must be strong for Takuzo, for Naomi, for everyone here…but most importantly, for himself. He was bad with situations like these, they were more of Kakashi's thing. Kakashi always knew what to say. He always handled the situation well. Naruto clenched a fist.

He wished he was home.

He wished he never showed up on this stupid planet…but at the same time he was glad he did. His eyes drifted over the bus. He was sure that half of these people wouldn't be here if not for him. He had saved many, but he had lost one.

" **You can't save them all, Naruto."**

Naruto heard Kurama, but he didn't acknowledge the spirit. It just wasn't fair. This sucks. But out of everyone here, he was the only one to be able to do it. Naruto stood up, his body protesting against him. He turned towards Shizuka, who was peeking at him from the review mirror.

"Sensei, stop the bus."

Saya reeled back. "We can't stop the bus, are you crazy?"

She was immediately silenced by Naruto's frustrated glare. Most of them were startled by that. They've never seen this side of him. This serious side. They didn't know how to handle it. Naruto sighed and turned towards Shizuka again.

"Please, Shizuka. Stop the bus, we won't be gone long."

The sentence lingered in the air. It didn't need to be said, but everyone knew what he was implying. Takuzo wouldn't be returning with them.

Silently, Shizuka nodded and pulled over to the side of the road, seeing as how it looked clear. There was forest of cherry blossom trees surrounding one side of the road, and the other side, was a wall to the academy. Naruto opened the door for them and looked back at Takuzo.

"Can you walk?"

Takuzo frowned, "I-I think I can."

He tried to stand up but stumbled. Naruto and Naomi both caught him, Naomi letting out a strangled sob, tears still streaming down her face. Snot started to come out of her nose as well. Naruto smiled softly.

Takuzo cursed silently, struggling to stand. "I guess not, huh?"

Naruto silently, turned around and held his back for the boy to grab a hold of. Takuzo climbed onto Naruto's back with assistance, coughing and spitting up blood onto the blonde's shoulder.

"Sorry." Takuzo muttered, feeling his time slipping.

Naruto smiled, "Nothing to worry about."

He stood up, despite the ridiculous soreness in his whole body, pain still present. He looked at Shizuka, nodding at her. "We'll be back."

Naruto gestured for Naomi to get off, which she complied. Naruto and Takuzo followed shortly after. The Jinchuuriki could feel eyes on their backs. He could feel the morose cries from Naomi. He could feel the stifling silence choking at them.

"How pretty." Takuzo mumbled quietly, staring up at the cherry blossoms. Naruto couldn't help but nod in agreement.

After a short walk, Naruto deemed that they were far enough away for some privacy. Between the two. Naruto gently set Takuzo on the ground, back against a tree. He nodded over at Naomi.

"I'll be over there, just come get me before too long, okay?" Whether or not Naomi heard him, he wasn't sure. She was already bent down by Takuzo and staring deeply into his eyes. Naruto took a mental picture of the scene. It was a sad scene, but one he'll never forget in all of his life time. He silently walked off, and went behind a tree. He was far enough away where he couldn't hear the two lovers.

Naruto allowed this moment to slump down on the ground, tears leaking out of the corner of his own eyes. He clenched his teeth and fought back a sob. He brought his fist up to his forehead and gently pounded it. He was frustrated. Frustrated at this situation. Frustrated at life. Frustrated that he wasn't home. Frustrated that he wasn't strong enough to protect them.

Why?

Just why did the gods above have to shit on him, every god damn step of the way?

Being sent to a world only a couple weeks before the apocalypse happening was but a tease. A fleeting moment of happiness ripped away from them, and him. His whole life was just a joke. Fighting day in and day out to be acknowledged, and to bring his best friend home and when he finally succeeds in doing it. He's ripped away from that world and thrust into another. He won't be a part of rebuilding Konoha, he won't be there when the people need him the most. Besides the war, he couldn't be there for his friends. When their loved ones had died, and he couldn't comfort them.

What kind of sick joke is that?

But no, he was put into a world that was peaceful, a world where the children didn't have to worry about being strong enough to protect themselves. A world where they could laugh and goof off as much as they wanted too. Naruto had caught a glimpse of that life style and he had to admit, he found it rather enjoyable. He had forgotten about his home, temporarily filling the void with new friends, and a new family.

But that all was taken from him as well.

He briefly wonders if he was somehow the cause of this whole situation. That maybe if he wasn't here, none of this would have happened. That this natural chakra Kurama had said he sense, somehow had come from him. Naruto felt his tears stop, and he wiped his face. This was not the time to cry. If this really was his fault, then he'd have to take responsibility. He couldn't just abandon these people. He'd already promised to protect them.

He won't fail that promise again.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up to see Naomi standing there. She was a mess. Snot was running down her face, and her eyes were red and puffy, still crying. She had nodded to him. That was all Naruto needed to know. He stood up and put a hand on her shoulder as he walked by her. A way to comfort her, he guessed. "Wait here." She didn't respond, or move.

He walked over to Takuzo, who looked even worse than before. Quietly walking up to the teen, he crouched down in front of him. Takuzo laughed bitterly.

"She's an ugly crier, isn't she?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I guess she is."

Brown eyes met blue eyes. "I guess it's time huh?"

Naruto nodded. Takuzo felt himself start to cry, unable to stop it. "Naruto, take care of her okay?" a nod. "Make sure she eats properly." A nod. "A-and make sure she'll clean herself." A nod. Takuzo choked out a sob, tears freely falling now. Naruto couldn't help but tear up and cry as well. "P-protect her f-for me too, ne?"

Naruto nodded, "I will."

Takuzo sobbed, pain wracking his body. "Naruto." Naruto smiled sadly in response. "Will it hurt?"

He pulled out his kunai, gently, looking down at it. "It'll be quick." Was his response.

Naruto brought the kunai up to the side of his head, he was aiming to impale to brain stem. The quickest death possible. Takuzo chuckled, humorlessly.

"I guess that's all I can ask." Silence. The only noise was the breeze swaying the trees. Takuzo choked out a sob. "I'm scared, Naruto…"

Naruto eye's fell on his form, tears silently falling form his eyes. Takuzo continued. "I don't want to die. I want to grow old, and ask Naomi to marry me. I want to have kids with her, one boy and one girl." He was openly sobbing again. "I want to name them Yuji and Itsuko! I want to send them off to school while I go to work. I want to come home and yell at them for being slackers like their dad. I want Naomi to calm me down, and cutting them some slack. I want…I-I want… I w-want to l-live!"

The boy gripped onto Naruto's sleeves. "I don't want to die…"

"I don't want to die…"

"I don't want to die…"

Naruto listened to him repeat it over and over again. His voice was haunting. He'll never forget this moment. For Takuzo deserve to be remembered no matter what. He deserved to die a human, and not a thing. He deserved to live long and happily. He deserved to have the strongest human in this world, place him in peace. Naruto couldn't stop crying. He swallowed the lump in his throat and put his head against Takuzo's. "Rest in peace, Takuzo."

The brunette nodded, smiling softly as more tears fell from his eyes, they started to turn into tears of blood. Naruto knew that a second longer, and he'd be one of _them_. Without another word, he jammed his kunai into the brunette's head, hearing a sharp gasp from him…and then no more. Naruto felt his tears drip down from his chin. He wordlessly pulled his kunai out from Takuzo's head, ignoring the sickening sound of metal against bone and flesh. He sat back and fell on his butt, staring at Takuzo's dead body. He noticed something though, something almost endearing.

Takuzo was smiling.

Naruto wiped the tears from his face and forced himself to stop crying. Takuzo died, not a creature, but a man. This was for the best. I'm sure nobody would want to see him turn into an undead. Especially not Naomi. Naruto's eyes drifted off to the side, to see Naomi sobbing on the ground, legs all but given up on her. Naruto sighed and stood up. Placing his kunai back in his pocket.

He took off his school jacket, leaving him in nothing but his orange shirt, and placed it over Takuzo's dead body. It covered his head and his upper body. As much as he deserved to be buried, there wasn't enough time for that, so this will have to do. Naruto slowly walked over to Naomi and stood above her, not sure how to get her attention. As it turns out, he didn't have too.

"I-Is he g-gone…?" She asked quietly.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah. He's at peace now."

With those words, she sprang up and grabbed a hold of Naruto's shirt, bawling into it. Naruto could only wrap his arm around her, providing her some comfort. He looked down with unfiltered anguish. "I'm sorry." He whispered, squeezing her tight.

"I'm so sorry."

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Rei worriedly, and quite moodily, watched over the forest. She was waiting for Naruto to get back. The silence in the bus was stifling. Saeko was on the lookout for any undead, and Takashi kept sending Rei glances. Kohta was repairing his makeshift weapon and Saya was tapping her fingers in irritation. Shido looked around at everyone, and smirked to himself. The blonde was gone, but he was sure that he could start a conversation.

"Thank you for saving us!" He stood up and walked forward a little bit, leaning over Saeko's seat smirking down at her. "Are you the leader, Busujima-san?"

Saeko spared him a glance, not dropping her guard around the man. "We are without one. Our survival is simply the product of our team work."

Shido lowered his head, almost smiling in glee. "Well that's no good. A leader is required for us to survive. One who manages everything."

Rei glared at the man, her hatred filling her completely. She turned to Takashi, "You're going to regret this." Her eyebrows twitching with barely contained anger. "You're definitely going to regret saving him."

"Uzumaki-kun is back!" Niki pointed out, staring at the window.

Everyone looked over and out the window, indeed. Naruto was back. His face was blank and stony; Naomi was clutching to his arm. She was crying and Takuzo wasn't with them. Rei felt her heart drop into her stomach, knowing exactly what happened to Takuzo, but her eyes shifted to Naruto's form. He wasn't wearing his jacket, showing his stump, and the orange shirt that he usually wears underneath.

Naruto opened the door to the bus and let Naomi go inside first, following shortly after her. He closed the door behind him, and went to go sit down on the ground again when he felt a tug on his arm. Naomi was pleading him with her eyes to not leave her side. He sweat dropped but forced a smile. He allowed her to drag him to the seat where she still clung to his arm, mourning the loss of her lover.

Naruto looked at Shizuka, nodding. "You can leave."

"Yes sir!" Stated Shizuka, and she put the bus in gear and took off. Shido's eyes lingered on the back of Naruto's head, narrowing slightly. Naruto's very presence alone has commanded all of the attention of everyone on the bus, halting any conversation that was taking place. He was, unconsciously, leading these rag tag group of kids. That cannot do…that cannot do at all.

"Our city!"

Everyone looked out the window as they rounded a corner, showing the town was faring no better than the high school. It was chaos, fire was ablaze, boats had crashed into the shore, and undead lurked around the roads. Naruto stared at the destruction, a mental picture of the war flashing through his head. He looked behind him, at everyone else in the bus, gauging their reactions.

Most of them were shocked, but more bitter than anything else. It was hard to see your home like this. Naruto know. Although it was a little bit different in his case, since his home was actually just a big hole when he had first seen it. Naruto was sure this was hard on them. They continued to drive through the streets, until they past a convenience store on the side of the road. Running over an undead in the process.

For the first time since he's gotten on the bus, Tsunoda had spoken up. "Look! We'll never make it if we keep going!" He stood up and walked forward a little bit. Naruto turned and looked at him over his shoulder. "First off, why do we have to do whatever you guys planned to do? You all decided to go back to the city without asking us. Couldn't we have just looked for a safe place inside the school?"

Shizuka looked over her shoulder, feeling her irritation spike from the outburst. She adjusted the seatbelt around her shoulders. One of Shido's members spoke up, "That's right. We should find a place to hide, like that convenience store we just passed by."

Shizuka slammed on the break, almost knocking Tsunoda over. She unbuckled herself and turned around glaring at everyone. "I've had it!" she yelled back at everyone. "I can't drive with all of you yelling!"

Her breasts swung in the air, and Naruto blushed slightly, adverting his eyes quickly. Oh god, Shizuka-chan. I think you're bigger than Tsunade. Don't just flaunt them like that.

Tsunoda was apparently unaffected, due to his anger. "What…the hell?"

Saeko crossed her arms over her chest. "Then what do you plan to do?"

Tsunoda glared at Saeko, for a second Naruto thought that he might attack Saeko, but instead he flung his hand out and started point at…Naruto. The blonde blinked.

"I can't…" he glared at Saeko, frustrated with the whole situation. "I can't stand this guy!"

Kohta clicked his tongue and went to go aim at the guy, but Saya held her hand out, trying to avoid too much conflict between them all. Plus, she wanted to see what Naruto would say.

Naruto scratched his cheek and looked away, standing up as well. "Well…" He chuckled lightly. "I think I can understand that."

Several people face planted. Oh yeah, that's right. Naruto had been specifically targeting Tsunoda every time the guy bullied someone. Saeko almost giggled into her hand, while Saya sighed and covered her face. Rei rubbed her temples, fighting off a headache.

Tsunoda held up a fist at Naruto. "Do you have any idea how much pain you've put me through this week!"

Naruto shrugged, "Well I've asked you to stop. You just didn't listen."

"You bastard…" Tsunoda felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"Besides…" Naruto pouted. "You never even accepted any of my offers to go out to eat! I should be the one upset here and not you! My dear Tsuno-kun! You've ignored me this whole time, y'know!" His verbal tic came out, but he ducked his head into his elbow and pretended to cry. Niki and Misuzu actually giggled out loud. Rei and Saya sighed simultaneously. Takashi grinned in amusement at his friend's attitude. Nothing seemed to get the guy down.

Tsunoda clenched his teeth and felt himself blush in embarrassement. "S-shut up! You've been nothing but annoying this whole time."

"I've been called worse than that!" Naruto suddenly jumped forward, landing right in front of Tsunoda. He took a step back in shock but Naruto continued. "If all I am is annoying, I think I can live with that."

Clapping interrupted the argument, and Tsunoda angrily turned around at the interruption. He glared at Shido, even the fake blonde hadn't liked the guy, but he only followed him because he didn't want to be alone fighting those…things. Naruto peaked around Tsunoda and instantly his mood fell. He had forgotten about this guy, with the whole Takuzo thing happening, and combined with his pain, it really wasn't on the top of his list.

But now…

Looking at him, clapping at them, as if they had put on a play, Naruto couldn't help but glare at the man. He's not one to say that he hates that many people, but he reminded him far too much of a certain glasses wearing, white haired, Orochimaru follower. The thought of Kabuto would always leave him with a bad taste in his mouth.

"I'm impressed that you are able to keep yourself composed so much, _Uzumaki-kun_." Naruto narrowed his eyes, he didn't like the way he had said his name. "But hmmm, the fact that this conflict arose simply proves what I stated earlier."

Naruto looked behind him and at Saeko, "What did he say earlier?" Naruto questioned quietly, having not been present at that moment.

Shido answered for him. "We really do need a leader. Do you understand?"

Saya pushed her glasses up, glaring at the older man as well. "And there's only one person who can do the job, right?" Sarcasm dripped off her voice, clearly she was indicating that Shido wanted to be the leader.

Shido leaned down to her level, and she adverted her face, not wanting to look at it any closer than necessary. "Well Takagi-san, I'm a teacher and the rest of you are students. That alone should be more than enough to say who's more qualified."

Rei and Takashi bristled at the implication, neither one of them liking the idea. Shido was smirking in front of everyone, feeling confident in his own charisma. Saya clicked her tongue and Saeko even narrowed her eyes at the man. This was a dangerous situation. One wrong move could change the fate of their group. Kohta growled under his breath, gripping his nail gun tighter.

"No way in _fucking_ hell is that happening."

Many of them gasped at the vulgar language, but they turned and saw Naruto standing there, lone fish clenched and shaking, glaring daggers at the suit clad man. Shido smirked, hoping to rile up the boy, to prove that he would be unqualified.

"And you think you can lead Uzumaki-kun? You are but a child. And to top that off, you have but one arm. If anything you are the weak link."

Naruto walked forward, looking fairly intimidating. Shido actually started to take a step back, but then held his ground. He was sure this was the challenge. The fight for leadership right here. He couldn't back down to him, he wouldn't.

Naruto grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him roughly forward. Shido flinched as he was jerked and then opened his eyes, staring straight back into not blue eyes, but blood red eyes with slits in them. He felt a shiver of fear run down his spine and he took a breath in.

"I don't give a shit if I don't have both of my legs, a piece of shit like you will not be leader." Naruto threw him back, knocking Shido over on his back. Naruto walked up and stared down in fury at the greasy haired man. "My sensei once told me that those who abandon the rules are trash…" He muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. But his eyes were focused solely on Shido's bearing into them, showing promise of pain.

"But those who abandon those comrades are lower than trash. And you had abandoned your comrade out in the that parking lot." Naruto emphasized by pointing at the boy he had saved, whose face was swollen and bloody. "I won't allow anyone here to be led by a man, _lower_ than trash. And if you want to lead so badly, I'll allow you to take it from me. You can fight me for the title of leader, especially if you think that my missing limb is a hindrance to my capabilities."

No one breathed for a second. The tension was stifling. It could be cut with a knife. Naruto towered over Shido, glaring down at the man with a scary expression on his face. Red eyes gone now, and replaced by ice cold blue ones. Shido suddenly realized something in the presence of the blonde. Him standing there, while he was lying on the floor, was proof of their situation. Naruto stood over him, in every way. Naruto was a wall that Shido couldn't combat against. For the first time in a long time, Shido felt like a child. An image of his father holding his fist back, getting ready to punch him, flashed before his eyes. Suddenly that image was gone and there was Naruto standing there, holding his hand out for him to take it.

Shido stared at the hand. Naruto was offering his assistance to stand up. Naruto wasn't smiling down at him, but he wasn't glaring at him either. He had a passive look on his face.

"Shido, you probably mean well. But unlike you, I will never abandon my friends." Naruto started, the whole bus staring at him, captured by every single syllable that he had uttered. "I'm not from around here. My parents are dead, and I have no family." A few people gasped in surprised, they never would have taken him for an orphan… "My old friends are safe, I'm sure of it. The only family I do have right now is all of us on this bus. And I swear on my life, I'll do everything I possibly can to protect everyone here. And while I'm not a teacher…" This time Naruto did smile at Shido. "I have plenty of survival experience from various training that I have received throughout my life. I know what I'm doing. And I think that I would be best fit to be the 'leader' in this situation, y'know?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "And if you don't want to listen to me, then too bad. I'll just have to be your dictator. Whether you like it or not, I'll keep you safe and sound. Even if it takes everyone's hatred to do it."

Naruto's hand was still extended as everyone stared in shock. His words had filled them with a sense of pride of sorts. It was strange. They were all okay with the prankster being their leader. Shido stared at it in shock for a few seconds. And before he even knew what he was doing, his hand reached up and grabbed his. Naruto easily pulled the man to his feet, but still held onto his hand. He was squeezing Shido's hand painfully.

"I don't care if you want to be trash. But nobody here is allowed to abandon their comrades. Not while I'm here." Naruto squeezed Shido's hand harder, earning a flinch from the elder. "And I'll just have to beat that idea into your head, so you learn it eventually... Now go sit down, my body aches and I'm tired of standing."

With that Naruto went towards the front of the bus again, sitting down in a slump next to Naomi, who now had fallen asleep on the window, probably having cried herself into exhaustion. Shido watched as the boy walked away, feeling something move in his heart. He was amazing. If there was anyone out there that would be considered a true leader…he'd have to guess that the blonde would be him. Flashes of past presidents and commanders appeared in his mind, each of them had Naruto's face.

A true leader…Naruto fit the bill perfectly, despite Shido's anger at the situation, he couldn't help but feel moved by Naruto's actions. Nobody has helped him, he is who he is today because he had relied on his own strength. His father, abusive and uncaring, was the complete opposite of Naruto, who was aggressive but caring. Even if at some point in time he had a chance to take Naruto's place, he would grasp that opportunity. His dream can come true even if he's not the leader himself. He can be Naruto's right hand man, mooching off the power and presence that Naruto commands. He doesn't have to be the one responsible. Naruto will do that all for them. He will do everything for them.

His dream was suddenly warped, stretching into something else that was similar but not quite. Naruto will be the supreme leader, and Shido will be seen as his right hand man. How wonderful. He wouldn't fail, he couldn't. With Naruto, he felt powerful, he felt like he could do whatever he wanted to.

Naruto will carry his dream, whether he knew it or not.

Tsunoda also sat back down in his seat, both thinking about the blonde's words and not finding it in him to argue against him anymore. His previous anger was all but forgotten after Naruto's short speech. His eyes lingered on the back of the blonde and red mop of hair. Naruto would be…his leader.

Shido hadn't sat back down yet, still staring ahead. Regaining his composer, Shido spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear him. "I say we take a vote."

Saya gaped, "Hah? You're still going on about that?"

Shido kept his face blank, and serious. No smile, no smirk, nothing. He simply stood there. He nodded at the pinkette. "Yes, I say we officially settle this. We vote for who our leader is."

Rei could barely contain her rage. After Naruto had defused the situation, this man was starting it again. Naruto glanced at him over his shoulder, not bothering with answering the man anymore. Shido pushed his glasses up.

"Raise your hand if you are in favor of electing your leader to be…." He paused dramatically, staring at the scowling faces in front of him. But his eyes landed on Naruto's. "Uzumaki Naruto."

He proceeded to raise his own hand, effectively declaring his vote to be for Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened, he wasn't expecting the man to listen so easily. But what Naruto wasn't aware of, was how much his one single action had meant to Shido.

Of course, Niki and Misuzu had raised their hands almost instantly, followed by Saeko, Saya, Kohta, and Takashi was simply too surprised to raise his own hand, but after Saya elbowed him in his ribs, he raised it quickly. One by one, hands filled the air as it had seemed that the unanimous decision would be accepted. Naruto would be their leader. Tsunoda was the last one to raise his hand up in the air, doing it slowly and slightly embarrassed. Naruto smiled lightly at everyone, not expecting this to work out as well as it had.

"Thanks you guys."

Rei kept glaring at Shido, growling lowly. "I can't believe this." She muttered and with a huff she stormed off of the bus, kicking the door open.

Takashi stood up, "Rei!"

The light haired girl turned and glared at her childhood friend. "Screw this! No way in hell am I going to be anywhere near him!" Clearly she was referring to Shido, having already shown her hatred for the man.

Naruto grasped Takashi's shoulder, smiling at him. "I'll go get her."

Takashi could only nod as he watched the blonde go after her. "Oi, Uzumaki-kun!" Saya called out, her hand reaching out to him. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. Naruto jogged to catch up to the now walking away Rei. He grabbed her arm lightly.

"Rei-chan, come on, let's get back to the bus."

Rei ripped her arm out of his grip, "No! I'm not going near that scum!"

Naruto scratched his head, "Troublesome woman, I won't let him do anything to you, y'know? You'll just have to give him a chance."

Rei was about to retort when the sound of an engine caught all of their attention. Naruto and Rei's eyes widened when they saw a bus coming at them ridiculously fast. On the bus, Saeko was watching the two of them talk, before she heard the sound as well. She looked up and saw the bus approaching them at high speeds. Her eyes widened and a sudden fear gripped at her.

"Uzumaki-kun! Watch out!"

The bus hit a car and flipped back over front, landing on his side and skidding towards the tunnel the pair were standing at. Naruto shrieked girlishly in surprise before grabbing Rei and dodging backwards into the tunnel. The bus skidded to the tunnel but crashed into the side, seeing as it was too big to fit into the tunnel. Naruto groaned in pain as he looked down behind his shoulder, seeing a chunk of metal sticking out of him.

The bus lit on fire, and filled the tunnel with warmth and light, allowing Naruto to look down at Rei. "Are you okay, Rei-chan?"

Rei nodded, a bit shaken before sitting up and looking at the flaming pile of metal in front of them. "Now we're split."

If Naruto had his chakra control, he would have simply just walked up the side of the building behind them, and hopped down, carrying Rei with him, but unfortunately he was privy to those abilities right now. He flinched in pain and reached for the metal debris stuck in his shoulder. Rei looked over at him and gasped, her hands shooting to her mouth.

"Oh my god, Naruto, are you okay?"

Naruto gave her a dead panned look. "Does it look like I'm okay? I got a piece of metal stickin outta me, y'know?"

Rei kept staring at it, but before she could do anything they heard someone yell. It was Saeko. "Uzumaki-kun, Are you two unharmed?"

Naruto frowned, Rei looking back at Naruto's shoulder when they were questioned. Naruto yelled over the fire back at Saeko, "Yeah, we're mostly fine!" He paused and with an aftermath of thought he added, "And call me Naruto, dammit!"

At her yell, they watched as flaming zombies climbed out of the bus, stumbling towards her. Naruto stood up, and helped Rei to her feet. He looked at the orange haired girl. "We should try to meet them somewhere, but I don't know the town very well."

Rei nodded and then called over to Saeko, "We'll meet at the East Police Station!"

Saeko called back, "At what time?"

This time it was Naruto who answered, "At 7pm! If not tonight, then tomorrow! Saeko, you're in charge while I'm gone!"

Saeko nodded and prepared herself to kill a few of the undead, but paused in surprise when she had seen that they fell over. Most likely due to the flames. Saeko ran back onto the bus, and hopped in, closing the door. "Marikawa-sensei, we can't advance. We're going to the east police station."

Shizuka nodded and started to turn around the bus, "Alright, I'll turn back and find another route. Just you wait Naruto-kun!"

Her exclamation had surprised several people on the bus, including Saeko. They weren't aware that Naruto and Shizuka were that close. The bus drove back where it came from, hoping to find a way to get to the two stranded people now.

Rei grabbed Naruto's hand and started to pull him away from the fire. "Come on, we have to go. It might blow!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, still not really sure how vehicles work. "Blow?"

As if on cue, the bus behind them exploded, sending fire and shrapnel flying through the tunnel. Naruto shrieked again before taking of sprinting, this time holding onto Rei, who was now practically dragged behind the blonde. They ran out of the tunnel at the last second, avoiding any painful burns. But they both kept running until they were a safe distance away from the now flaming hell hole.

Rei panted as she looked back at the tunnel, and Naruto tried reaching for the shrapnel in his shoulder again, getting tired of the pain it was causing him. It was positioned on his right shoulder blade, low enough where he couldn't reach it from over top, but high enough that it was useless for him to try to take it out from the angle his arm was at. Rei turned to see him struggling with it, his face contorted in pain.

Suddenly, Naruto turned around and was grabbed by an undead who had literally chucked itself at him. He landed backwards and onto his shoulder, pushing the shrapnel deeper into him. He grunted in pain, as he grabbed the undead by the helmet he was wearing. How lucky, that made this situation so much easier. He was about to kick the undead off of him, when Rei slammed a slab of concrete to the back of its head, effectively killing it.

Naruto pushed it to the side and looked at Rei with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Rei-chan."

He stood up, painfully, and flinched as the shrapnel in his shoulder hurt him even more. Rei frowned, "Here let me take a look at that."

Naruto turned around, but he was alert this time, watching for any potential undead threats. Rei bit her lip at seeing his wound. It was deep, and long, maybe four inches wide, and god knows how of it was inside of the blonde. Rei gingerly touched around it, noticing that Naruto didn't even flinch, much to her surprise. She was sure that it was very painful.

"Could you take it out?" Naruto said softly over his shoulder.

Rei nodded, "I can try. I'm sorry if this hurts you…" She trailed off. She placed one hand in the middle of his back, and the grabbed the shrapnel with her other hand.

Naruto nodded to her. "Do your worst. I'm ready." She smiled a little, glad that he was still able to crack jokes in situations like these.

She gripped hard on the metal piece before tugging. Naruto grunted in pain as he could feel it slowly be removed. Rei bit her lip, struggling to keep a hold of the metal. And with a final tug of effort, she ripped out the piece of metal from his shoulder, but she gasped in pain as she proceeded to cut her hand from the metal. She held her wrist and looked down at her injury as it was bleeding. It didn't look deep, but it was long, going from the base of her thumb, to the middle of her palm.

Naruto sighed relief from the lack of metal in his shoulder, feeling the blood ooze out of his wound. He turned to Rei to thank her before noticing her own bloody hand. "Gah! Rei, did you don that taking out the metal?"

She nodded, "Yeah, it must've slipped from my hand when I pulled it out."

Naruto ripped off a part of his left sleeve with his teeth, and grabbed it, he used his left hand to wrap the cloth around her hand. "Could you hold this?" He asked, indicating to the strip of cloth form his shirt. She nodded and did as she was told, so he could tie it tightly and securely, attempting to stop the bleeding. After he tied it, he nodded at his handy work then looked at her sheepishly.

"Sorry, I wasn't hurt, you wouldn't have to get hurt." He frowned.

She shook her head to the side, "No, I'm fine, it's just a light cut. Thank you for wrapping it." She smiled at the other teen, who blushed lightly and averted his eyes. God Rei was pretty when she smiled like that. He coughed awkwardly.

"Well, let's go on top of this hill. We might be able to find something to help us travel."

They walked up the hill, Rei leaning on Naruto as he helped her climb. At the top, he surveyed his surroundings, looking for anything. "Look, Naruto!"

Naruto looked down and saw a bike of sorts. He had no idea how they would work with this, but it'll have to do. "Can you drive one, Rei-chan?"

She bit her lip, hesitantly. "Maybe, but I'll have to do it anyway." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, a smile tugging her lips. "because there's no way I'm letting you drive that."

Naruto put a hand over his heart and made a noise. "Ack! No faith! Rei-chan has no faith in me!"

She giggled and went down the slope to retrieve the bike, Naruto following shortly. Together they both leaned the bike up and pushed it up the hill, quickly taking the time to observe their surroundings. They looked for any undead, and after determining the coast was clear, Rei hopped on the bike first. She was glad that they lucked out, and the keys were still in the bike. She turned it on, and tested it out. She looked over at Naruto, who was grinning at her.

"I'm impressed Rei, you're pretty badass that you can do that."

She blushed, but grinned back. His smile was just so god damn contagious. She held her hand out for him to take. "Let's go, Naruto-kun."

Naruto took her hand, and hopped on the back of the bike, wrapping his arm around her waist, much to her embarrassement. Naruto snuggled his face into her back, smelling her hair and her clothes. It was weird, but she couldn't help but find it…somewhat cute. Very Naruto-ish. She smiled again, fighting down her blush and took off into the city night, the pair of them enjoying the fresh air.

The two of them drove for a while, the night getting darker, until only the city lights illuminated the sky. It had been a while before they stopped, but currently Naruto and Rei were stopped on an upper part of a road, staring down into a street filled with undead. Naruto had a grim look on his face and Rei had her brows furrowed. She stared at the creatures stumbling and groaning. Once human beings. She thought about many of them must have died a horrible death. It wasn't fair. She frowned.

"Do you think someone will come and help us?"

Naruto looked at her, staring at her face briefly. He sighed then looked back at the horde of zombies. "I doubt it, but it doesn't hurt to hope." He smiled warmly at her, blue eyes sparkling in the street light.

She smiled, "You're always so positive…" she mumbled.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't understand why people have to be negative. If life's beating you down, why go and make it more depressing. I'd rather be a happy idiot, than a miserable genius." Naruto smirked at her. In fact, thoughts of his best friend filled his mind.

Rei smiled softly, looking down at the handle bars. "You're always like this…you always say the right thing at the right time."

Naruto gave her his patented foxy smirk, and she blushed at the proximity of their faces. "That's because I'm just that awesome, y'know?"

Rei gave him her own warm smile, before nodding. Then they heard the groans of zombies behind them. Naruto looked at her and nodded, indicating that it was time to take off. Rei nodded back in understanding, before kicking off and driving away from the spot.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Back on the bus, the group of students were lazily sitting around. Listening to the guards outside the bus tell people not to leave their vehicles. Saeko was standing next to Saya and Kohta. Niki and Misuzu sitting in front of them. They all were watching the traffic outside of their bus.

"We progress at roughly one kilometer an hour…" Saeko said, frowning.

Misuzu leaned her head against the seat behind her, "That's so slow. I feel like we're crawling."

Niki nodded her agreement. "I wonder if we can even make it over the bridge before morning at this rate?" Saya pondered.

A low growl brought them all out of their thoughts, Kohta looked down in embarrassement. Saya glared at him, "Oh shut up! Put a lid on it!"

Kohta scratched his head, embarrassed. "Put a lid on it? But…I'm hungry…" Fake tears fell down his face as he thought about eating some dinner.

Gun shots all attracted their attention to the other side of the bus. Officers were shooting an undead that stumbled upon the whole mess. Shots firing out. On the bus a few people flinched from the sound. The two girls behind Kohta and Saya both covered their ears and cried out.

Shido slid in front of them, hoping to comfort the girls. "There there."

Shido leaned forward and hugged them in a comforting manner. "We're safe in here. Naruto-kun will be back, and he'll take care of us like he said. We'll be okay. We'll all be okaaaayyyy."

The girls nodded, both taking comfort in his words. Saeko stared at him in hidden suspicion while Saya made a gagging motion to Kohta who smiled at her. Shido seemed to be a slithery little snakey snake. Not to be trusted, and definitely trying to do something. The way he had said Naruto's name, as if it was an instant ticket to safety, made her worried. Saeko has known people like Shido for a long time, and they are most definitely trouble. While she was stunned and somewhat proud that Naruto was able to convince this man that the blonde would be a better leader, she silently wished that he would have just kicked Shido off of the bus.

She looked at the window and prayed for the two's safe return to them, knowing that if they were gone for too long, Shido would most definitely step forward with some plan.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Naruto kept a watchful eye out, as Rei drove through streets. Each street they kept going down looked to be worse and worse. Windows were broken, cars were stranded, blood was on the streets and the walls of buildings and shattered glass was everywhere. It was a barren wasteland. No sign of life anywhere. No sign of the undead either.

"There's…" Rei slowed the bike down to a stop, looking around. "…no one here."

Naruto looked around, "Either they ran away, or they died."

"If they died, they'd be walking around!" Rei retorted.

Naruto hummed, "You're right. They may have ran after the living people, but we can assume they might be lurking around. Since nobody's been here, there hasn't been any noise. I'd say keep your guard up."

Rei nodded. She looked forward and saw a cop car. "Naruto look!"

Naruto looked over her shoulder and saw the vehicle. He tilted his head, confused. "Cool? I guess."

Rei glared at him, "There might be people in there, or at least weapons. Let's go check it out."

She parked the bike, and got off, Naruto following shortly. She noticed he seemed unusually tense, which was easy to understand. What he said earlier was definitely a possibility. Undead could be lurking in any of these buildings waiting for someone to make noise.

He walked forward as Rei peeked the corner. The cops were dead, hit by a truck. Naruto scratched his head, "Bad luck for them I guess."

They walked forward and Naruto opened one of the doors, leaning down and peeking into it. The two of them silently shuffled through the car, gathering anything that might be of use. They both finished searching when they put the stuff down on the street, seeing what they have gathered all together. A baton, handcuffs with the keys, and a gun with ten bullets. Naruto scratched his head.

"Not a lot here. But it's something."

Rei nodded in agreement. She picked up the gun and handed it to him. "Do you know how to use a gun, Naruto?"

"No I have no idea." Rei lowered the weapon to her side. Naruto looked at it and smiled at her. "You take it Rei-chan, I don't feel comfortable using a weapon I'm not familiar with."

Rei smiled at him, "Thank you."

She started to pocket the gun and extra bullets before she picked up the baton. A clinking nose gained her attention as Naruto picked up the cuffs. He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. "Although I know how to use these. Why don't we give 'em a whirl?" He grinned at the end, twirling them around a finger.

Rei took a step back, flabbergasted. She blushed heavily at what Naruto implied. "How can you even suggest such a shameless thing? How disgusting. You're a creep!"

She stormed off, heading towards the bike. Naruto chuckled in amusement though. "Rei, it was a joke." No answer as she climbed on the bike. "Rei?" She turned on the bike. "Eh?! Rei, don't leave me!"

Before she could take off, Naruto hopped on just in time as she started to drive away. Naruto sweat dropped and laughed lightly in her ear. He leaned his head back and enjoyed the feeling of the breeze flowing through his hair. He missed the small little smile that Rei had on her face, however.

They continued to drive for another couple of hours, little words were spoken between them since the bike and the breeze was loud. It had to be the middle of the night by now. Rei looked over her shoulder and yelled back to Naruto.

"I need to get gas!"

Naruto merely nodded and they stopped at a nearest self-serve gas station. Rei frowned looking at the pump. "I wonder if they still have some gas…"

Naruto shrugged. "They probably do. We might as well try it."

Rei walked up to the pump, and froze. "It's a self-serve gas station. We have to put in money before we pay… And I don't have any on me." Rei looked at Naruto hopefully. "You don't have any on you, do you?"

Naruto chuckled, "Don't be silly, you're my source of income Rei-chan."

She blinked a few times, registering what he had said. Then the light haired girl gave him a disgusted look. "You suck."

He chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. She sighed and thought about what they could do. Naruto put his hand in his pocket. "I'll go check inside, they have registers in their right? They might have some money inside of them."

Rei smiled at him, "You suck a little less now."

"Whaaaaaat?" The blonde pouted. "Only a little?"

She giggled and leaned against the bike. "Yes only a little. Now go, I'll watch the bike. If anything happens, I'll just scream." She beamed at him. Naruto fought down his own blush and grinned back, waving as he walked inside the gas station. Naruto entered, looking around. The lights were off, possibly because of power outage. He walked behind the counter and looked at the register.

Humming in thought, he pushed all of the buttons on the register. But of course nothing happened. He scratched his cheek in amusement. _"Is this really worth using chakra to break into?"_

" **It could be worse brat. You could have no way to get inside of it."**

He sighed, closing his eyes in exasperation. _"Always one to brighten the mood, eh?"_

Kurama growled lowly, amused. **"That's me. The happy ball of fur."**

Naruto chuckled out loud, but didn't respond. He flinched as he focused his chakra into his arm, punching the register. He punched it again, then again, until it finally busted open enough where he could get some money out. He grabbed a handful of the paper bills, stuffing it into his pants. He was about to grab some more when he heard a scream outside. His eyes widened and his heart jumped into his throat.

He sprinted out the door as fast as he could, and was met with a blood boiling scene. Rei was grabbed from behind by a man, clearly not an undead. A knife was held at her throat. He had a doorag on and some baggy clothes, but Naruto noticed that his eyes were wild and crazy. Clearly he had just snapped. He turned towards Naruto and grinned at the blonde. Naruto felt his face settle in a stony scowl, blue eye ice cold, glaring hard at the man holding Rei.

He suddenly started to laugh, and Naruto tried as discretely as he could to pull his kunai out of his pocket. The man spoke "Hey bro! Your girl is fuckin' sweet!"

Naruto glanced at Rei, staring into her fear ridden eyes. She was flickering back and forth between the knife and Naruto in front of her. Naruto stared very hard into her eyes, trying as hard as he could to tell Rei to do something, anything. Hit him in the balls, the stomach, stomp on his toes, literally attempt to do any single thing! Naruto clicked his tongue as he noticed that she wasn't focused enough for her to understand what he wanted her to do.

His eyes gazed back at the crazed lunatic. "Let her go." He said quietly. Preparing to launch forward at the tiniest little distraction that he could use. And despite the agonizing pain going through his legs right now, he had pumped chakra into them and kept it there, idle.

The man laughed at Naruto. "You dumb? Like hell I'd do that. I need me a fine woman if I'm gonna live with these monsters."

His arm reached up and brushed the underside of Rei's breast. Naruto watched him do it. This man was enjoying every minute of this. Naruto could feel the sweat start to form on his forehead, not from the situation, but from the pain in his legs. He was trying to keep the best poker face that he could manage at this moment in time. He didn't say anything to the man, but he laughed again.

"I saw my family turn into those monsters! I had to smash their heads in! My dad, my mom, my grandma, my little brother…even my little sister who just started grade school…how the fuck could I stay sane!" He burst out and started laughing, Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Of course this guy is fucking psycho. Although Naruto had to agree, he wasn't sure if he could come out mentally unscathed after doing what this man had done. But unfortunately, he picked the wrong people to fuck with.

He grabbed her breast with his hand, knife still on her throat. Rei gasped in surprise and disgust, squirming to get out of his grip. Naruto felt his blood boil and he could feel his unconscious use of the Kyuubi's chakra. If he were to guess right now, he'd guess that his eyes were red and slitted.

The man shuddered, "Ahhh, her tits and her voice are mighty fine! And these are p-pretty big! You fuck her, right? You fuck her every night right? Or…wait…you don't do you? You fucking dumb? Look how hot she is!"

The man lowered her shirt a little bit more, showing off bra for the world to see. Naruto felt something snap inside of him. He should have done this earlier. He never should have let this man even touch Rei…Naruto mentally apologized to the girl, for being indecisive. Pain was nothing compared to her innocence. It was unacceptable. Naruto mentally punched himself. He was an idiot.

He channeled much more of Kurama's chakra through his body, this time grunting at the immense pain that followed. His body flared up in the golden light, shocking both the man and Rei. Naruto's red slitted eyes staring at the man with contained fury.

"You fucked up."

Naruto disappeared, and Rei felt the hold on her release. She heard a clang behind her and she turned around. Her eyes were as wide as saucers when she saw Naruto standing there, the golden cloak of flame dispersing around him, returning into his normal self. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Naruto was holding the man up in the air by his throat, slammed against the pump. His eyes were boring into the other mans. The knife was on the ground completely forgotten.

Choking sounds strangled out as the man was fighting against the grip around his neck. His hands were clawing at his arm and reaching for his face. Naruto sat there glaring holes into his head. It was unacceptable to even think about rape. Whether it was a girl's innocence or a man's, it didn't matter. Rape in Naruto's eyes…

Was punishable by death.

Naruto brought his leg up and kicked the man hard between the legs. He let out a shriek of pain and he slumped over. Naruto growled and grabbed the man by his foot, dragging him to the middle of the street. He stopped when he saw the knife, and picked it up. He continued to drag the howling man on the concrete, watching as undead started come out of their hiding places and hobble towards them.

Naruto chucked some money to Rei, "Rei please fill the bike up, we're going to be leaving soon."

Shakily, she nodded, wiping tears away as she struggled to put money into the pump. Naruto stopped dragging the man, and took his knife out of his pocket. He opened it up and stepped on one of his hands. With as much strength as he could, he slammed the blade down onto the hand, pinning him to the ground. The man howled in agony as he was officially nailed down into the concrete of the road.

Naruto grabbed his cheeks and stared into his eyes. The main started to cry in front of him, but he held no remorse. "Now listen here you piece of _fuck_." Naruto growled dangerously low, only allowing the guy to hear him.

"I'm not going to kill you." His eyes widened in surprise as Naruto's ice blue eyes bore into his. "But I'm sure as hell not going to save you."

Naruto stood up and walked away from the man, who just now noticed the crowd of undead that were stumbled towards him. He started to beg, to plead for him to help. Cries filled the air, as the undead started to feast on the skin of this most unfortunate soul. Naruto held no pity for him and he continued to walk towards Rei, who was shaken up, and crying. Naruto felt his eyes soften seeing her standing there looking like a mess.

This was all his fault.

Rei finished filling the tank as Naruto walked up, his eyes staring at her with concern. She flinched at his gaze, unable to meet it. What _was_ that just now. He was covered in that golden light, and he basically teleported…she couldn't continue her thoughts as the sounds of moans and groans from undead disrupted them. She sniffled and got on the bike, intending to get as far away as possible. Naruto hopped on behind her, and she didn't look at him. She started the bike and took off without hesitation.

She had no idea where to go, nor did she care. She just wanted to get away from this place. She wanted answers, and she wanted them soon.

She could feel the tears running down her face as she drove off. Naruto only provided her with a squeeze of comfort around her abdomen.

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 **~~o0O0o~~**

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Chapter 4 done. Please read and review! I'm going to start the next chapter as soon as possible! Upcoming chapter will contain Naruto and Rei talking about his powers! And Rei being comforted by the fact she was almost raped! The gang is brought back together as well! Please keep following and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Ja Ne.


	5. Chapter 5

I just want to say that I DO NOT own either Naruto or Highschool of the Dead. And I hope you like the book. Please Read and Review! Thank you everyone for reviewing! It helps a lot and makes me feel really good haha.

Now about the whole Shido situation…Naruto is the KING of second chances. Hell he's the king of third, fourth, fifth, and sixth chances. He's a forgiving person. And despite all that has happened, he wouldn't just kill a guy or kick him off of the bus because he tried to leave someone behind. The kid survived, thanks to Naruto. So of course Naruto would forgive him, but still be upset at him.

And let's be honest, how many times does Naruto convince his _enemy_ that what he is doing is wrong. His emotions are portrayed and shared by his enemy. That's why Naruto is such a charismatic guy, he's experienced pain, and he understand betrayal. Sasuke betrayed him, but he kept saying that he'd bring him back. And he does. Nagato had KILLED Jiraiya, his beloved sensei, and one of his very precious people. But Naruto forgave him, and turned his feelings around. How many times has Naruto done that? Let's see…Zabuza, Gaara, Nagato, Orochimaru, Sasuke, Obito, The SPIRIT EMBODYING HATRED Kyuubi no Kitsune… You get my point. A twenty something year old teacher who has daddy issues really isn't that big of a deal to Naruto.

Now about Shido…In my mind, that man is the epitome of a Beta. I usually don't say "Alpha/Beta" but in this situation I will because it's easier to understand. In a way, **Shido is a sheep in wolves clothing,** and yes I did write that correctly. Shido tries to fit the part, but his instincts dictate himself to follow someone who is a true leader, compared to standing up and challenging them for their leadership. He is a coward and sly, but I don't think he's necessarily evil. There are always circumstances to why a person might think the way they do. I believe Shido's father had been abusive towards him, and with that abusiveness he might have portrayed women as a sexual object, instead of a companion. He might have learned that there will always be a hierarchy instead of teamwork. Although Naruto believes in teamwork, he is aware that there needs to be supervision.

Now that I have mentioned that, I have decided to go through reviews and answer any question (Without spoiling anything) as often as I can.

Boken31 – Mentioning Naruto's fatal flaw of endless compassion… Yeah, it's kind of Naruto's thing that might get him killed one day, but so far he's been successful by rolling Natural 20's on his diplomacy checks (DnD reference) I'm going to be playing on that a little bit during this book. Unlike Naruto's world where they use their fists to talk, this world (Like ours) is full of backstabbers and liars. Of course Naruto has a line where people shouldn't cross…like rape. But so far, he's even forgiven people who have killed his very precious people.

Mokkel – Thank you on mentioning the Naruto nerf. With his current powers at the end of the show/manga, nothing would be exciting since he could have just created a bunch of Kage Bunshins and saved everyone. A story's not interesting if he's overpowered! This will allow Naruto to mature mentally even more, due to the amount of death, and his feeling of being powerless. In my opinion, Naruto changed so much from the very beginning of the show, up until the end of the Chuunin Exams. He was weak, and he knew it, but he continued to fight. Now that Naruto is weakened again, he's learning to deal with a lot, and will mature as a character even more. The situation with Rei and Naruto? Right now, they're just friends, but they find each other attractive enough to feel uncomfortable around each other a little bit.

Euphonia – About the Hiraishin being created by Tobirama, I actually knew that, but I had forgotten recently. You have reminded me of that again, and I thank you for that!

In regards to a PM – How big will the harem be? Not very big, maybe 4 girls at max. And while this story might have the romance in it, I plan on making it drawn out, since it's not the most important thing that is on their mind right now. Survival over anything!

MangaHero18 – Hoping that Takashi will become some sort of antagonist… well at this moment he's more focused on survival than anything else, just like a lot of them. But he can't help but show his feeling of jealousy. Rei and Naruto are close, since Naruto wasn't jealous of her relationship with Hisashi at all, but was more focused on becoming her friend. There was that barrier of her relationship that Naruto just didn't let get in the way. He blew past it, while Takashi was faced against it but walked away. Now that Hisashi is dead…Rei is vulnerable and she's turning towards the person who had supported her WHILE in her relationship with Hisashi. Instead of someone who she might think will try to move in now that he was out of the picture. She's confused, Naruto is just being Naruto, and Takashi doesn't like their bond.

That's all I think for questions/comments that I can answer. If you do have a question, please put it in a review, or pm me, and I'll address it in the next chapter. Of course I'm not going to say anything that might spoil the story!

Please enjoy!

Pairings: NarutoxHarem

" **Speaking."** Kyuubi speaking

" ** _Thinking."_** Kyuubi thinking

"Speaking." Person speaking

" _Thinking."_ Person thinking

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 **~~o0O0o~~**

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 **Deceiving The Apocalypse**

Chapter 5

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 **~~o0O0o~~**

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It was late at night and early in the morning at the same time. Rei was driving in silence since the gas station, and he could tell that she was getting tired. He'd only imagine. Suffering something like what had happened wouldn't be easy for anyone. He leaned forward and yelled in her ear.

"We should find a place to rest!"

Without a word, she nodded back at him, happy to comply. If Naruto could, he would offer to drive. But seeing as he only had one arm, and absolutely no experience with vehicles… it would be the worst situation possible. He'd probably kill them both. He chuckled lightly, thinking back to when Rei had told him she didn't trust him driving. Good reason for her to say that as well.

Wordlessly, Rei pulled over to a place that seemed to be an old apartment building. She pulled into the ally next to it, parking behind a dumpster, effectively hiding it from the road. Naruto kept his eyes peeled, awaiting any attack from either man or creature. Rei started to walk away and into the building and Naruto watched her. He sighed, he really wasn't sure if she was just upset over the whole situation…or avoiding him because of his use of his cloak. He couldn't even imagine what was going through her head, but at least she hadn't tried leaving him yet.

No doubt she has questions.

He jogged to catch up, just as she was about to open the door, he stopped her. "I'll go first." He said quietly, looking at the door. He pulled out a kunai and tense, preparing himself for anything. He opened the door and looked around the dark entrance to the building. His eyes quickly adjusting to the lighting. Rei was silent behind him, not too close, but not that far. She had her make shift pole in her hands.

Naruto led the way, going behind the desk and picking up several keys. They must be spares for maintenance people to get in by, he was sure. Naruto nodded to Rei, indicated that it was alright to proceed. They both took the stairs, cautiously turning corners and surveying their next room. There was no trace of any undead. Naruto went to the first door, and pulled out the keys, trying each one until one of them had worked.

He opened the door to the apartment and stepped in cautiously. It was quiet, no noise of groaning. No shuffling from an undead. Nothing. But even still, Naruto went through each room, every nook and cranny, and finally cleared the apartment. He sighed in relief. He walked out to the front of the room, and went back to where Rei was, the front entrance. She was hugging her arm to her body, looking down.

Naruto opened his mouth to ask how she was doing, but then decided against it. He frowned then scratched his neck. He couldn't ask her how she was. Of course she's a mess. It's only been the first day, but she had lost her boyfriend, possibly her family, friends, almost been raped, and now the guy that they've been housing with for a week has shown that he has some sort of super powers. Of course she's not okay. Stupid Naruto.

He sighed, and decided another course of action. "I'm going to go draw a bath, I'll let you use it first, okay?"

She looked at him, very briefly, before nodding. He sighed and went to go do the job he said he would. He should wash their clothes as well. Since theirs were filthy, mostly his, but hers had a lot of blood on it as well. He finished drawing the bath and turned the light on for her. Thankfully, the hot water and electricity both worked in this apartment. He left the room and saw Rei still standing where she was.

"Bath is ready…" He muttered, "If you leave your clothes by the door, I'll wash them for you. I'll leave an extra set there as well."

She finally nodded and headed into the bath, preparing to clean herself. Naruto scratched his head, wondering what he should do in the meantime. He looked back and noticed the kitchen…Maybe he should try to make something for them to eat. He opened the fridge and looked inside. There was a carton of eggs, and milk, and other things that he really didn't know what to do with, like wasabi paste, wakame seaweed, daikon radishes and onions. He sighed. He opened the freezer and saw some miso in there. He took that out and looked through the cupboards, hoping for some noodles. He wasn't disappointed. There were some udon noodles waiting to be cooked. At least he could make something with flavor.

He started got a pan out to boil water, taking out the eggs and some bottles of water. They should rehydrate more than anything else right now.

Naruto put his hand on his hip while he waited for the water to boil, deciding that he should start the laundry now. He went to the bathroom and saw Rei's clothing was neatly folded just outside of the door. Her bra and panties were on top. He twitched his eyebrow, blushing slightly. I guess he should wash those as well…taking this opportunity, he picked up the clothes and stripped himself down to his boxers as well. Because he had put on a pair of fresh boxers this morning, the ones he was wearing should be good for a while.

Naruto went into the bedroom and looked around. It looked like a couple was living here before, thankfully. He opened up drawers randomly, and found some shirts and some sweatpants. But he found a backpack near the end of the bed which interested him. He dumped the contents out of the back pack and noticed some books on high advanced math of some sort, and notebooks. A pencil bag was there as well. These people must be university students…

He opened the pencil bag and took out a couple pens, throwing them back into the bag, as well as the smallest notebook. It wouldn't hurt for them to have a pen in case they might need it one day…for whatever reason. He rummaged through the drawers as well, grabbing an extra shirt, jacket, and sweatpants. Clean warm clothes could come in handy at any point as well. Finally, he went back to the kitchen, and started to put the canned foods into the bag, with bottles of water as well. He grabbed a can opener and through it into the bag with a spoon as well. Like he had thought, he'll never know when something like these could come in handy.

He changed out of his soaked clothes before wearing a pair of sweatpants, socks, and t-shirt. The sweatpants were grey, and the t-shirt was black. Nothing fancy, but it was enough. He found a pair of leggings, and a sports bra, and a long sleeved t-shirt. He put a pair of panties on top as well, not sure if Rei would weir them or not. Lastly, he placed a pair of socks on top of it all, smiling slightly.

He could hear his water boiling, so he walked to the kitchen and threw the noodles in the water. Waiting for them to be done. He added some miso to it, and chopped up some seaweed as well, throwing it all in there. He had no idea if it would be good, but…as the kids in this world would say…YOLO.

He heard the door open and Rei stepped out of the bathroom, wearing the clothes he had given her. She wasn't wearing a bra, so he guessed that she probably wasn't wearing the panties either. The clothes were slightly baggy on her, but she was blushing quite cutely.

"H-How…do I look?"

He gaped, surprised because that was the first thing she had said to him. He laughed dryly and gave her a smile. "You look like you've had a long day."

She glared at him slightly, "Idiot…" she mumbled quietly.

Naruto scratched his cheek, not sure how to respond. He wasn't sure why she was calling him an idiot, but he must have done something wrong. He looked down and stirred the noodles, Rei peaking over his shoulder to see what he was making. Naruto chuckled lightly.

"I'm not the greatest cook, but I'm just making something for us to eat…"

Rei looked at it, then nodded. "Go clean yourself, I'll take over here."

Naruto looked at her in surprise, but before he could protest, she was bumping him out of the way and taking the spoon from his hand. He gently smiled.

"Thank you."

Without another word, he went into the bathroom, stripping down naked. He looked down at himself and noticed just how much blood was on him. It was a disgusting amount. He sighed, sitting on the bench in front of the mirror to wash himself. After scrubbing down his body, he ended with his head. He watched in sick fascination as the water that he had cleaned himself with turned into a brownish color from the blood. He watched the swirl of the water around the drain and stared.

He turned his back around and looked at the wound on his shoulder, the wound there was already much smaller. It only ached a little now, his Uzumaki heritage had sped up his healing process, and he guessed later tomorrow the wound would be gone altogether, leaving no scar behind.

 _I don't want to die_

He shook his head as Takuzo's face flashed into his head, his voice haunting. He clenched his fist when he heard Naomi's anguished cries fill his mind as well. Cries and screams filled his mind, from various students he had heard die. Their pain reached his heart, and he closed his eyes. If only he had been stronger…If only he had been faster…He dropped the shower head and rubbed his eyes. He must be tired. He picked up the shower head and looked himself in the mirror.

Brown hair and eyes stared back at him, skin ashen grey. Takuzo was smiling at him.

He inhaled sharply and jumped out of the seat backwards, knocking over the stool and his shower head onto the ground with a loud clanging noise. He breathed heavily as he stared at the mirror. His reflection was normal again. He could feel the blood leave his face and he tried to calm his breathing.

A knocking on his door made him jump. "Naruto?" It was Rei. "Are you okay? I heard some noise in there."

Naruto took a deep breath, and swallowed, tearing his eyes from the door, and looked at the mirror. His own reflection looked back at him. "Y-yeah, I'm okay. Just slipped." He called back to her.

It seemed to satisfy her, "Oh, okay. Don't be so clumsy next time."

Naruto smiled softly, appreciating her concern. "Yeah, I'll do that."

She left without another word, and Naruto slumped down against the cold shower floor. Just what was that? Why did he see Takuzo? He narrowed his eyes sadly. Was he feeling guilty? Was it because…he couldn't save him? Naruto took a deep breath and then decide to quickly finish cleaning himself. He replaced the stool and picked up the shower head, facing away from the mirror.

He finished washing himself and turned off the water, and emptying the tub of its water. He dried himself off, then put on all of his clothes again, leaving the bathroom with slightly damp hair and a towel around his neck. He looked up and saw Rei finishing the food that he had started to prepare. He smiled softly, thinking to himself about how she looked so natural I the kitchen, not because she was a woman, but because she handled the utensils like a pro.

Rei looked up and caught him staring, he blushed and smiled softly. Rei looked back down. "Food is ready. I touched it up some."

Naruto nodded and walked forward as she started to poor even servings for them in separate bowls. He noticed that she had cooked a little bit of rice as well. He accepted the helping gratefully and sat down by the table. He whispered his thanks and dug into the food with gusto. He was hungry. He hasn't eaten for a long time. Rei sat next to him, eating quickly as well. Although she was much more well-mannered about it then he was.

Silence reigned between them.

Neither knowing what to say, and neither wanting to break the silence. It was unusual for the pair. It was like a wall between them, hard to get over. Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eyes, looking at how tired she had seemed. A few hours' sleep would do her some good. His eyes drifted back to his now empty bowl. He stood up and dropped the bowls off on the counter, not caring about washing them since they'll only be there for a night.

He stared at his bowl. Thinking back to Rei. He felt his eyes mist up, as his thoughts led him to Kiriko and Tadashi. He really hoped that the two of them were okay. But Tadashi was a police officer…he'd be out on the front lines…He'd be dealing with the undead personally, and his chances of survival are slim. His eyes darted to Rei, who was sitting at the table, not moving.

Speaking of survival…

Her boyfriend, Hisashi, wasn't with them all day today. And she made no mention of going to find him. He must be gone… His heart reached out to Rei, thinking about how Naomi was after Takuzo had passed…

He opened his mouth and took a breath. "I'm sorry."

Rei's head looked up, but she didn't look at him. She laughed humorlessly. "For what?"

"For…" He trailed off, not knowing whether he should apologize for not telling her his secret or for her loss of her lover. He was conflicted, but in the end they would have to talk about it. So maybe he should just mention both of them… "I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark…and for Hisashi."

Her head spun around so quickly that he thought maybe it would break, he blanched and saw Rei's wide eyes staring at him in surprise. He averted his own eyes and walked over to the couch, sitting down on it in a slump.

"How…how did you know?" She whispered quietly.

Naruto played with a wrinkle in his pants. "I kind of figured…since he wasn't with us, and because you haven't mentioned him all day…"

Rei's eyes watered as she looked at the blonde. She put a hand up to her mouth, "W-why are you apologizing?"

Naruto scratched his cheek, looking away. "Because you probably are hurting. I mean, you loved him a lot right? And now he's…gone…" He trailed off.

Tears started to fall for her, and she sobbed lightly. Nobody has even said anything about that. Takashi hadn't apologized, and he was the one who had killed Hisashi. He had acted like it hadn't even happened at all. "Yes…" She started, "I did love him…"

Naruto gave her a sad smile. "So I'm sorry you had to go through that. He was a good guy."

Rei stood up and made her way over to Naruto, who looked confused at her. She fell down right in front of him, resting her head in her hands. Naruto panicked slightly, he wasn't sure what he should do in this situation. Getting off of the couch, and he crouched down next to her, awkwardly putting a hand on her shoulder. What he wasn't expecting was for her to spring into his chest, bawling.

"I-I miss h-him so much and i-it hasn't even been a d-day!" She sobbed out, Naruto felt his heart reach out to the brunette. How could he understand what she was going through? He wrapped his arm around her and held her tight. She adjusted how she was laying and sat in his lap, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Naruto blushed awkwardly at the position, and couldn't help but think that she was so small.

"The world has gone to shit! And I'm here, pretending it's all okay! I don't even know if my parents are alive or dead!" Rei continued sobbing, Naruto simply holding her, allowing her to dampen his neck and shirt. "And you *hic* and you have been so strong for all of us, but you've been through so much as well!"

Naruto only stared ahead, he couldn't just compare their pain to each other's. There wasn't anything to compare. Hers was entirely different than his. Like Sasuke had once said to him, having those bonds and losing them…is much different then never having them. After all, he's only been in this world for a couple weeks now. How could he compare his pain to her, in which she has known so many people for years! Her and Hisashi had been dating for months, but how long had she known him before that? He could only imagine.

He could only hold her as she cried, listen as she sobbed, and catch her as she fell. If he had too, he'll be her pillar. Her strength. Her reason to live. He had promised them that he'd protect them. But what was he doing to do that? Nothing. He should be doing more. He should have done more. Yes, it hurts, and yes he can't use any of his jutsu, because he didn't know how to use one handed seals and because his chakra network was fucked up.

But he had his cloak. He should use it more. He can't be selfish and not use it because it hurts. What a weakling. He couldn't even stand a little bit of pain. If he couldn't do that, how could he call himself their leader?

Rei's tears slowed down and her sobs quieted. Soon she was quiet as she held onto his shirt tightly, not willing to move, mostly due to embarrassement. She looked at his chin, staring at it, and drifted her eyes over his shoulders and neck. She realized that this was the closest they'd ever been. Sure they've touched once in a while, but they've never held each other like this…so personal…so close. She listened to the steady, strong beat of his heart. She unconsciously realized just how strong his arm was, and how his chest was soft but firm with muscle. She smiled, blushing slightly.

She also realized just how warm he was, unusually so. She felt as though he maybe had a fever, but he seemed fine. He was like a heater, giving off such comforting warmth. She could fall asleep as she was right now, in his arms and be warm enough. Her smile faltered slightly. Thinking about his warmth had reminded her of his golden flames that surrounded him earlier…

"Naruto?" She mumbled quietly, a thought plaguing her mind.

"Yeah?" he answered.

She bit her lip, unsure of how the conversation would go. "What…what are you?"

Naruto looked down at her now, meeting her eyes. They were red, and puffy, but filled with confusion and curiosity. He didn't answer right away, but he looked up at the ceiling. He hummed in thought.

"You mean back at the gas station, right?"

She nodded, "And the parking lot."

Naruto tilted his head, sighing, "Ma…I can tell you right now, I'm a human… and I told your Jii-san about me… but I'm not sure if you will believe me like he did." Naruto mumbled.

Rei frowned, tilting her head in confusion. "I'll do my best…"

Naruto sighed, trying to think of a way to start. He didn't want to go into as much detail as he had with her Jii-san, because it would be a pain to keep telling the story over and over again. But there was a definite place to start, that's for sure.

"I guess I can start by saying…I'm not from this world." Naruto muttered.

Rei blinked, suddenly awake. "Eh? Like an alien?"

Naruto chuckled, "No, not like an alien, more like…I'm from a different dimension. I was taken from my world and pushed into this one after a battle that I had with my best friend."

Rei leaned back, and stared into his ocean blue eyes. He was being serious. "So when you said that you received your injuries from him…"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "Nothing I have said to you has been a lie. I just left out some details. I come from a world filled with violence. We have different cities that we call villages, that it is dominated by a military presence. We call ourselves shinobi, kunoichi, or ninja. Everyone who is able to, tries to become a ninja. But we're different from this worlds ninja. Our world has something called 'chakra'. And energy created from our spiritual and physical selves. A balance between the two."

He continued. "We have different techniques. Like Taijutsu, is what we call hand to hand combat. Ninjutsu is what we call manipulating our chakra to form elements, attacks, and other things. There's even ninjutsu that can control the time-space continuum. There is genjutsu, which is the art of creating illusions, or manipulating the mind. There's kenjutsu, which is weapon fighting, mostly with swords. Those are the basics of basic. There are many others, like Medical ninjutsu, which allow us to heal others. And senjutsu which incorporates the natural energy around a person."

Rei let out a breath that, clearly following along, but was disbelieving. Naruto smiled at her, feeling somewhat embarrassed at explaining it all. "When me and my best friend, Sasuke, had fought, we had just finished a war in our world. He wanted to kill the main leaders, while I wanted to save them. So we fought, and with the last of our strength we had made one last ninjutsu each. His was his signature technique, called the Chidori, an assassination jutsu that was lightning, and could pierce your body. I used my own signature jutsu, basically a rapidly spinning ball of chakra, that could grind through rock."

Naruto scratched his head, "When our attacks collided, we both lost our arms, and I was suddenly in this dimension. My chakra hasn't worked properly since then, and it's completely messed up. I can barely use it, but it's incredibly painful. When I use that cloak, as I like to call it, it feels like I'm being stabbed by 10000 hot needles in every fiber of my body. It hurts like hell."

Rei's mouth was hanging open, so Naruto continued. "I can't use any of my jutsu because my chakra is messed up, and because I only have one arm now. But I've been a ninja since I was twelve. And before that, I was training for being once since I was six. Fighting is all I know how to do. And one day, I hope to get back to my own world. But for now, I'm stuck here."

He smiled sheepishly at her as he finished. Rei could only stare into his eyes, obviously not believing him.

"You expect me to believe all that?" He heard her whisper.

Naruto looked back at the ceiling, "Well, whether or not you believe me, that's the truth. There's a lot more about my world that I could explain to you, but it would take all night."

Rei opened and closed her mouth. Silence fell between them once again, and Naruto could practically hear the gears in her head turning as she tried to process what he said. He didn't say anything and waited for her to speak up. If he said something, he was sure it would only confuse her even more.

"So that's why…" she started after a while. "That's why you seemed so surprised by everything. Our phones, our vehicles, and just our everyday technology…you didn't have that in your world?" Out of everything she could have asked him…it was that?

Naruto laughed lightly, "No, our world has televisions and stuff, but nothing else advanced as this world. We have radios and refrigerators, but it wasn't ever need to have anything other than horse drawn carriages for civilians. Ninja are much more versatile and are just as fast as vehicles in this world."

Rei gaped at him again, "You're kidding right?"

He shook his head, "Not at all, I mean it's impressive what your cars can do, but we were able to go not quite as fast through trees and take sharp turns. We could go wherever we wanted too, whereas your vehicles are stuck on roads."

"And school? You didn't have school?" Rei questioned, leaning forward and getting into the conversation.

Naruto scratched his head, "Well we had our ninja academy where they taught children the basics of being a shinobi, but I don't actually know if civilians had school or not."

"And your parents?"

"Actually dead."

"Friends?"

"I didn't have many to start off with, but eventually, I made a ton."

Rei paused, not sure what else she wanted to ask. Well, she had tons, but she didn't know what else to ask. Maybe something about… "You mentioned a war…what was that about?"

Naruto looked out the window biting his lip in thought. Where to begin… "Well, the war started because a small, but very powerful organization decided to bring peace to the world…"

Rei tilted her head her head, "That doesn't sound so bad."

"No it doesn't." Naruto chuckled, "But they wanted to put everyone to sleep permanently, and create a dream land for them where they would have everything they ever wanted. It was a fake world, different based on who was dreaming. We fought back because we didn't want to be asleep. We wanted to be alive, and live our own lives."

The brunette blinked in surprise. "Your world can do something like that?"

He nodded, "You underestimate our abilities. If you name it, I'm sure we could do it."

Rei sighed in weariness. "Okay, so super strength?"

Naruto thought back to Sakura and Tsunade, he sweat dropped. "I've seen my teammate punch through a boulder the size of this building." He muttered.

"Giant animals?"

"We call them summons. They're humungous. Bigger than buildings."

"What about people with antennae's?"

"Hmmm. I don't know about antennae's but I met this girl who was part fish?"

"Invisibility?"

"Yep."

"People can fly?"

"A certain few, it's more like floating anyway."

"Super speed?"

"Yours truly!"'

Rei's jaw was slack, mouth hanging. Naruto giggled. She put a hand on her head, "And…and this organization wanted to put everyone to sleep to create the perfect dream world…sounds like a mess."

Naruto nodded, "Oh trust me it was. I mean, I can understand their desire for peace…but they did it all wrong. One of the members actually had created an army of dead people…"

Ruby red eyes widened at him in shock, "You mean like what's happening to our world?"

He shook his head, "No, not quite. These people have been dead for a long time, and brought back to life. They kept all of their memories, and personality, but their bodies were controlled. They had regenerative powers, and only sealing them away defeated them. We were forced to fight our old friends, and family…It was… a rough time during our war." Naruto ended with a mutter.

She sighed, suddenly her problems didn't seem as big compared to Naruto's. "I can't believe any of this…" She could feel a headache.

Naruto smiled down at her, finally noticing their proximity. "You don't have to, but it's the truth." He repeated. "I'm human, I have special powers, and I'm a little homesick." He offered her a small smile.

Rei slumped against him, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I can imagine."

He laughed dryly. "But it doesn't mean I don't like it here. Well at least before all of this mess today."

She nodded, "So much has happened, it doesn't seem real."

"Yeah." He agreed with her, "So much has happened…so I think it's time for you to get some rest. You need it."

Rei slowly nodded, feeling her exhaustion make its presence known. She awkwardly climbed out of his lap and blushed, holding her hand out for him to take. He smiled and grabbed it, allowing her to help him stand. She left to go to the bedroom, Naruto following, intending on tucking her in bed. She sat at the edge of the bed before Naruto stood in front of her.

"Oh yeah, Rei-chan, how is your hand?" He asked, suddenly remembering.

She held it up for him to see, a large scab covering her palm. "It's sore, but It's not bleeding anymore thanks to you."

Stared at the palm, thinking in his head. He raised his eyes and looked into hers. "Can I try something?"

She blinked, "U-uh, sure."

Naruto nodded and in his head, he contacted Kurama.

" _Oi, Kurama, I need a favor."_

He heard a grumbling in his head, and he noticed that Rei was giving him a funny look. **"What is it?"**

Naruto couldn't help but smile mentally. _"I need some chakra."_

" **Hah? What for? Do you realize how much it will hurt?"**

Naruto mentally nodded anyway. _"Just do it."_

" **Whatever you say kid, here goes."**

Naruto flinched in pain as his hand felt like he dipped it in fire. Rei noticed, "Naruto?" she asked in concern.

Her eyes widened a second later as she saw his hand turn into those golden flames, a black line across the back of it. She looked up at Naruto's eyes, noticing he was sweating slightly and looked like he was in pain. But he was smiling at her.

"Give me your hand." He said to her.

She held out her palm, not knowing what he might do. Naruto's flaming hand was set on top of her own, encasing her hand with the golden flame as well. A warmth, unlike any she had ever felt before, filled her hand and went up her arm. She shuddered at the feeling, relaxing. It was comforting, special. It felt like all of her troubles could be taken away with this warmth. After a couple more seconds, the golden flame dissipated, leaving Naruto's hand normal, on top of her own. She blinked at the loss of warmth but looked down at their hands. He let go of her hand and grinned at her. Confused, she looked back at her palm and felt her blood run cold.

The cut on her hand was gone, leaving perfect skin behind. No scar. Nothing.

She gaped at the spot and looked back up at Naruto, who was grinning at her. She looked back down at her palm. Then back up at Naruto. Then back at her palm. She tested it by clenching her fist and unclenching, feeling no pain.

"How…how did you do that?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, but she didn't miss the slight shine on his forehead from sweat. She wondered just how much that must hurt him to do that, especially since he seemed unaffected by being stabbed from shrapnel earlier.

"That wasn't medical jutsu, but it's something I can do. I have special powers like that."

Her eyes were wide, staring at him. "That's amazing!"

Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I know right? But I wanted to do it, to show you that I am telling the truth." He grinned down at her. "And that no matter what, I won't abandon you guys."

Rei could only smile brightly at the blonde. Amazed that his mind worked like that. She laughed lightly, feeling more refreshed than she had in a long time. "You're amazing, you know that?"

Naruto tilted his head, smiling gently. "Yeah, yeah, I already know that. But now we should get some sleep okay? Every day from now on will be tough and busy. I'm sure you know this already…" he trailed off.

The brunette nodded somberly and climbed into the bed. Of course it will be busy, the days of carefree attitudes were gone. Replaced by hard times and hard lives. She lied down and Naruto covered her with the blankets before smiling down at her.

"If you need something, let me know. I'll be on the couch. We'll sleep for only a few hours, okay?"

He turned to walk out of the room when he felt her grab his hand. He turned and looked at her, confused. She was blushing heavily and looking anywhere except him. She bit her lip.

"C-Could you…stay with me…for the night."

Naruto registered what she had said in his mind, repeating it. He took a step back. "Eh?!"

She sat up, hair tumbling over her shoulder. "I'm not sure if I can handle being alone right now, I don't want to start crying…so please…stay."

She bowed her head, not meeting his eyes. Naruto felt himself blush heavily as well. What was she doing to him?! This is embarrassing. He closed his eyes and nodded, not trusting his voice at all. He walked to the other side of the bed, climbing in and covering himself with the blankets. He rolled away and had his back facing her. She did the same thing. They both made sure not to touch the other one at all, knowing that it would only be awkward.

They could hear one another breathing, and Rei was worried that somehow Naruto would be able to hear her heart hammering in her chest. She's never shared a bed with anyone other than Hisashi…

"D-don't get any ideas okay? I'll kill you if you touch me." She mumbled over to him and she heard him laugh lightly.

"Okay, okay. No touching. Got it."

She smiled at him and rested her eyes, thinking back to what Naruto had said to her. The whole situation was crazy, but after witnessing what he had done…she believed him…and her father apparently did too. She looked at the palm that once had a cut in it. She now understood why her father wanted her to find him. He was their ticket to safety. He was their secret weapon. Naruto had more experience in dealing with this kind of stuff than anyone else they could ever meet.

She tried to look behind her, staring at the back of the blonde's head. She was so very glad to have him here, but she could only guess that he wanted to go home. This wasn't his world. He didn't belong here. He had fought in a war, alongside of his friends, and she was sure that he had watched people die around him, and after all of that fighting, after all of that pain…they had won, but he couldn't celebrate with them.

How cruel.

He probably viewed it as unfair. All that work he put in to protecting his people, and never receiving a reward. It most definitely was cruel. Not only does he have to deal with that, but he was put in a place where the world was ending only a couple weeks after he had arrived. Suddenly her eyes snapped open. Was all of this…because of his arrival?

Did Naruto somehow, inadvertently, caused this infection to spread? She bit her lip. That would be crazy, he's said that his world never had anything like this…but what if his existence here, his…chakra…as he had called it, had somehow affected those around him, and started this crazy pandemic. It was definitely a thought that she kept in her mind, even after she heard the snores from Naruto. She sadly looked forward. No this isn't something that she can blame anyone for. This was a hell, god laughing down at them as he cursed their existence. Nobody was to blame for such a thing.

With those final thoughts, she drifted into a much needed sleep.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

"That's right, everyone! We shall stick together until Naruto-kun comes back! And until then, we should find a safe place and move as a group! I don't think it's wise to go searching for family until we become an organized group. In fact, I think the number one thing for us to do is laying down a foundation for our group."

Shido stood in the middle of the bus, lecturing those who were in the back. The group that he had brought with him was admiring him in his speech, much to the disgust of everyone else. It was embarrassing how they clung to every word he said, as if he were the savior of humanity himself. Saya frowned. He definitely was throwing Naruto's name around as if the two of them were best buds. Her eyes drifted across the aisle as she looked at the two girls Naruto had saved.

They both were asleep, Niki resting her head on Misuzu's shoulder, and Misuzu resting her head on Niki's shoulder. Then her brown eyes flickered over to the quiet occupant in the bus. Satoshi Naomi. She had fallen asleep for a while, but when she had awakened, the first thing she had asked was where Naruto was. Which led to her current state. She was a mess. Eyes were red and puffy, and all she had done was stare blankly forward, not joining in any conversation, or indicating that she was even paying attention to the world around her. Saya couldn't help but dislike the girl. She couldn't understand stupidity, and she had made it obviously clear that she would have died to be with Takuzo.

Whatever had happened in the forest though, obviously changed her mind. Either Naruto or Takuzo convinced the girl to live on, and she clearly hung to Naruto now as if he were her life source. It was irritating, but it was rational. Naruto had helped Takuzo in his final moments of life, in which had earned him the trust of Naomi. She wouldn't be surprised the raven haired girl would end up falling in love with Naruto.

Saya couldn't help but be slightly irritated with that thought. She didn't like the blonde, per say, but he was reliable. He was strong. He was their greatest chance of survival, and anything romantic with anyone here could seriously diminish the group survivability rate. Something that she wouldn't compromise at any cost. She looked over at Hirano, glaring at the fatass who was fast asleep, and drooling. Oh no…nobody will get involved with Uzumaki Naruto, she wouldn't allow it.

She nudged the bow with her elbow harshly. "Hirano."

His eyes slowly fluttered open, looking at her confused. "Takagi-san?" He blinked a couple more times, registering their situation. "Good morning, sunshine."

Saya felt her eyebrow twitch. "Why did you fall asleep?" Her eyes lingered on his drool. "And you're drooling, how gross!"

Kohta wiped his mouth, and his eyes drifted to the traffic outside. "Because...of all this." He said, clearly indicated the traffic that they were in.

Exhausted people were walking along the road, officers were directing everyone, making sure no chaos erupted from the massive amount of people that were trying to escape. Kohta looked down at children that were walking with their parents. "I think it would've been better if we had gone towards the suburbs."

Saya noticed an airplane and she pointed at it, almost flicking Kohta in the nose. "There are other ways to escape besides cars."

He followed her finger to where she was pointing, and noticed an airplane taking off into the air. Realization dawned on him, "The seaside airport?"

Saya mused out loud, for everyone to hear. "As you can see, it's too dangerous to be in the city. There's probably a group of people who are trying to flee to an island or to some isolated area where there are armed forces." She finished by crossing a leg over the other, holding her chin in thought.

Kohta mused along with her, "Like Okinawa? The American military forces that're stationed there aren't there to fight. Oh, but there is the SDF…"

Saya nodded, "Hokkaido and Kyushu should be okay if they handled the situation appropriately. I'd say the airplanes are headed for one of those locations."

He thought about heading to a place where it was protected, and he smiled happily. "So we should go somewhere like that too?" He asked hopefully.

She glared at him from the corner of her eye. Both Saeko and Shizuka stood up and stood next to them, ignoring Shido and listening to Saya's thoughts. Truly, she was smart. She understood the ins and outs of things no normal person would even be aware of.

"It's way too late for that." Saya said. "Areas with large amounts of American soldiers or where the SDF is stationed are probably keeping the situation under control. However, it's likely that they started being strict about who they take in." She paused, thinking about something. "Actually, before we know it, the whole world will be like that."

She turned to Kohta again, "What would you do if letting in others meant risking letting those things in too?"

Kohta thought for a second, before snapping his fingers. "I'd shut myself in!"

Saya flicked his forehead. "And what if the whole world started thinking the same as you? What if they tried to keep their community as small as possible for maximum survival?"

Kohta gulped at the implication. She's implying that they were on their own. That they wouldn't find a place that would accept them as refugees. He looked down, smiling nervously. "Wow, Takagi-san…you really are a genius."

She closed her eyes, irritated by his answer. "That goes without saying. Just look at him." She jerked her thumb behind her at Shido who was standing in the aisle, doing grand gestures and proclaiming that Naruto would be there for them. She felt her eyebrow twitch, he was trying to start some kind of cult under Naruto's name…and it was working. "He's an example of what I'm talking about."

She sighed. "But I doubt he realizes that himself. Right now, what we should be doing is thinking about how we're going to survive. We need someone we can trust…" She bit her lip, her thoughts drifting back to the blonde haired blue eyes hyperactive teenager that's been plaguing her mind this past week. "If only Uzumaki was here."

Kohta looked at her through the reflection of the window, coming to a realization. He dead panned at her. "Takagi-san, you like Uzumaki-kun, don't you?"

She blanched, and felt her face heat up at the implication. "What? Don't say something so stupid!" She harshly defended herself. She did NOT like Uzumaki.

"Tch, everything always leads back to that guy."

Saya turned her head and glared at whoever had said that. The once forgotten Takashi was bitterly looking at her, annoyed by Kohta's proclamation. She blinked in despair, having realized she had forgotten all about him. He's been far too silent this whole time. "K-Komuro? I'd forgotten you even existed. Why are you so quiet?"

Being moodily ignored by him, her irritation sky rocketed. She saw Kohta's eyes flicker behind her and she turned around, coming face to face with an amused Shizuka, and an unamused Saeko.

Shizuka leaned forward, smirking at her, "Is that so?"

Saya blinked rapidly, feeling her face heat up even more. "W-what?"

"Did you say something about Naruto-kun?"

Everyone turned to the raven haired girl in the front. Naomi was standing and looking at them with hopeful eyes. Saya blinked in surprise. She had basically been dead to the world, but the instant someone mentions Uzumaki's name, she perks up. And what was with her calling him by his first name?!

Saeko looked up and out the window, speaking to all of them. "I am concerned about their safety. It would be preferable if we were able to meet up with Uzumaki-kun without incident."

Naomi nodded her agreement, "I hope Naruto-kun is safe as well." She trailed off, looking down again.

Everyone stared at her, with something akin to pity and concern. The poor girl wasn't doing so well, clearly defendant on the whiskered teen who was currently not present. Takashi couldn't help but glare at her in annoyance as well, his thoughts leading to a dark place. Naruto-kun this, Uzumaki-kun that. Was he really that special where that's all they could think about. He was getting really tired of hearing that guy's name.

His eyes drifted out of the bus and onto the traffic, thinking about Rei. He had really hoped that she would be okay. If anything were to happen to her…

…He wasn't sure what he'd do.

"As members of Fujimi Academy." Their attention was, once again redirected by Shido, as he proclaimed loudly to the entire bus. He grandeur movements, and over exuberance was really starting to get on the nerves of some people. "It's during trying times like these that we must keep our pride! Meaning that if we must, we shall have to go find Naruto-kun ourselves! We need to stick together to survive! And Naruto-kun IS our savior!"

Saya glared at the man, arms crossed under her chest. "He's seriously insane. He's throwing Uzumaki's name around like he's God."

Saeko agreed, listening to Shido preach to his students. "Indeed, he is comparable to a recruitment office for a religious cult."

Saya shook her head. "Comparable to? No, that's exactly what he's doing. He's creating a perfect world for those people, where Uzumaki is protecting us all, and where he is a god. Just look at them, hanging onto his every word. If he's preaching to them that Uzumaki is God, then he's discretely trying to convince them that he's Jesus. They're already a cult. This marks the birth of the Idiot Religion."

Saeko looked over her shoulder, at the station they were supposed to meet at. They had less than a couple hours to get there, already being the next day. "Look at the station outside…" she bit her lip, "In order to escape, I believe we will need to leave this bus." She grabbed her chin, thinking out loud. "Somehow, we must make it to the east police station by means of crossing Onbetsu Bridge. I must keep my promise to Uzumaki-kun there."

Saya felt her face heat up at the implication. She fiddled with her glasses as her eye twitched. "Wow, you really have Uzumaki on your mind. You aren't worried about your family?" She asked, almost rudely.

Saeko turned to the pinkette, smiling softly. "I do worry, but the only kin I have is my father. He is overseas at a dojo." She laughed lightly. "As such, all I have to hold on to right now is my life and my promise with Uzumaki-kun."

Saya felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation. Damn this woman, she's too perfect! She strained a smile, trying to at least cover her irritation. But she could tell that it was a pointless task. Saeko smiled at her, amused. "Otou-san has always taught me that a promise must be kept even if it should cost you your life."

Saya laughed awkwardly, averting her eyes or else she might try to kill her with them.

"Promises, huh?" Naomi muttered under breath. They all blinked in surprise as she spoke again. The grey eyed girl looked at the others. "Naruto-kun had told me that he always keeps his promise. Even if it cost him his life… just like you said Busujima-senpai."

Saeko and Saya looked at each other, confused and slightly worried. Saeko looked back at her. "Then Uzumaki-kun is a smart man."

Saya tilted her head, curious. "Did Uzumaki promise you something?"

Naomi shook her head no. "He promised T-Takuzo…" she mumbled his name, clearly sore over the subject. "That Naruto-kun would take care of me, and protect me…"

Saeko and Saya blinked in surprise, not knowing how to respond to that. They looked between each other again, clearly unsure of what to say. Thankfully, the ditzy adult knew exactly how to break the tension.

"Naruto-kun is reliable like that!" She said excitedly, nodding over to Naomi who was looking down at her hands again. "If he promises something then he'll definitely do it."

"Marikawa-sensei…" Saeko started, "I've been meaning to ask, just how you know Uzumaki-kun on familiar terms?"

Shizuka put her finger on her lips. "He would skip class hide out in my office!"

Saya awkwardly chuckled, "That sounds like that idiot alright."

Saeko chuckled fondly as well. "I'm surprised that he does that. He seems like a good student." Kohta, Shizuka, and Saya all three at the same time spoke up.

"He's a horrible student."

Saeko blinked at the unison statement, giggling softly. "Oh really? I'm genuinely surprised."

Saya sighed, holding the bridge of her nose. "He skips class all the time."

Kohta nodded, "And he pranks the teachers!"

Shizuka giggled, "And he beats up bullies and brings them to me! I've seen Tsunoda every single day of the week since he's been here."

"Not to mention." Saya finished, shrugging her shoulders. "He's really stupid about a lot of things that should be common knowledge. I mean, he didn't even know what an mp3 player was before those two showed one to him." She jerked her head back to the sleeping girls.

Kohta leaned forward, interested in gossiping as well. "I'm surprised that you haven't heard about him Busujima-senpai. He's been the talk of the school since he's arrived."

Saeko smiled, somewhat embarrassed. "To be honest, I think I have heard of him, but I don't care for rumors so I tend to ignore them."

Saya sighed, "He's been an enigma to everyone. The only person who seemed to know anything about him was Miyamoto, and that's because he is living with her."

Saeko blinked in surprise. "He was living with her?"

Kohta nodded, "Yeah, as it turns out, there were rumors going around that he was hurt pretty badly a few weeks ago, and that's when he had lost his arm. Miyamoto-san's father had found him bleeding out in an ally, and brought him home after his hospital stay."

At this, the once silent Takashi actually perked up. "You mean to tell me that he isn't some sort of exchange student? I've never heard about this before. Rei never seemed to want to talk about him."

Kohta nodded at Takashi, "He's not exchange, in fact, he wasn't in any records of any kind when he was registered in the school. It's like he literally popped outta thin air!"

Takashi clicked his tongue in irritation, and glared out the window again. Shizuka blinked, seeing his reaction. She awkwardly smiled and turned to the others. "So where do you guys live then?"

Saya hummed, "My house is in the same area as Komoro's on the other side of Onbetsu Bridge."

"Uh…" Kohta started nervously, scratching his cheek. "My parents aren't in the neighborhood…" He blushed and looked away, clearly embarrassed. "But I'll follow Takagi-san to the end of the world.

Saya reeled in disgust, unprepared for that statement. Saeko smiled, amused. "Where is your family, Hirano-kun?"

"My dad is in Amsterdam buying supplies since he's a jewel merchant. And my mom is a fashion designer and she's been in Paris…"

"What the hell!?" Saya couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth, "What time period is this character sheet from?"

Shizuka laughed, "If we were in a manga, your dad would be the captain of a foreign cruise ship." Shizuka laughed

Kohta scratched the back of his head, "Actually that was my grandpa. My grandma was a violinist." He finished with a laugh.

Saya hung her head, finally understanding why Hirano was the way he was. Shizuka parked the bus, and stood up, "So, what are you all doing? I want to come with you!"

Saya was surprised, "You do?"

"Yep!" She smiled at the group, "My parents are both dead and my relatives live far away."

They all smiled at her, Saeko nodded taking the lead. "Then what shall we do? This area is unfamiliar to me."

Saya nodded at her, "First, we'll check on Onbetsu bridge."

Shido overheard them at the end and turned around, "What's wrong you guys? We should work together."

Niki and Misuzu both started to wake up at the yelling across the bus. "Huh?" Niki looked over at Misuzu, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Misuzu rubber her own eyes. "What's going on?"

Saya debated on telling them that they were going to get off the bus, but she decided that Naruto would be upset with her if she hadn't said anything. "We're getting off the bus, we'll never reach the east police station like this. We'll have to walk there to meet up with Uzumaki."

Shido raised an eyebrow, amused. "Oh? And leave the safety of the bus?"

Saeko nodded, "There won't be a point to stay on the bus any longer if we don't find Uzumaki-kun."

The greasy haired man, put his hands together. "If you think that it is wise to leave, then we shall follow your lead. After all, Naruto-kun did put you in charge in his absence…"

Without another word, Shido spun around with his hands in the air. "Everyone! We are leaving the bus, grab your things and prepare for departure."

Saya's eye twitched, slightly hoping that he wouldn't have wanted to come. Everyone on the bus stood up, grabbing whatever it was that they had. Takashi got off the bus first, glad for some air away from everyone. Following shortly was the rest of the group, Naomi was being led by Shizuka. Niki and Misuzu were holding hands, clearly nervous about getting off of the bus.

Saeko nodded at everyone, "Let's go!" and with that they all ran up the side staircase next to the road. They all ran on top of the bridge, and they expected some sort of police barricade. What they weren't expecting was for it to be completely empty, except for abandoned cars, here and there.

Kohta gripped his weapon tighter, feeling the hair at the back of his neck stand up. "Something is wrong."

Saya nodded, "This should have been monitored, but nobody is here."

Shido looked around, slightly nervous. Behind him, were his students, slightly cowering. Tsunoda was next to him, glaring at the road in head of him. Takashi wielded his bat tighter, he too had felt that something should be off about this situation.

"It's too quiet here…" Saeko muttered, eyes darting around looking for any threats. "But we have push forward. Everyone, be on look out. We can't be caught off guard."

They all pushed forward, quiet and tense. They were walking for quite some time before the distinct groans of the undead reached their ears. Kohta held his gun up, glaring darkly in front of him.

"They're here."

As if on que, a couple dozen undead appeared, from behind vehicles, and more were coming in from the rear, somehow having heard the group. Naomi's eyes widened as she took a step back in fear. Tears started to fall from her eyes, and she fell to her knees, hugging herself tightly.

" . . . . this can't be happening." She kept muttering softly.

Saeko lifted her bokken in front of her, gripping in a relaxed but firm way. She cast the girl a look over her shoulder. Clearly she was distressed over the whole situation. Losing her lover must have given her terrible fear of the creatures in head of them…for good reason too.

"Everyone, bunch up together and find anything you can use to defend yourself with." Saeko called out.

Unfortunately for a majority of the group, there wasn't anything they could use, and they had nothing on them. Takashi glared behind him as he saw several more undead approaching their rear.

"Hirano, I'll help Busujima-senpai with the front, you take the back. Can you do that?"

He nodded at the brunette, taking his place. The undead getting close to them. Kohta fired a few of his rounds off, nailing them in the head, and ending their afterlife. Shido nervously turned to his group, and started to calm them down, clearly rattled.

"Now now everyone, they will protect us! If they can't do it, then I'm sure Naruto-kun will arrive just in time to save the day!"

Saya glared at the man, "Now's not the time to give out false hope here!"

Saya bit her lip as Saeko and Takashi both sprang into action, killing and defending their group with as great an effort as they are possibly able to do. Kohta kept firing, nail after nail. But it seemed the more he shot, the more undead were attracted to them. Shizuka crouched down to Naomi and hugged her gently. The girl was now covering her ears and pinching her eyes shut, shaking violently.

The blonde looked up at Saya, clearly distressed by the situation. "M-maybe it would've been better if we had stayed on the bus!"

Saya looked over at Shizuka, smirking slightly "Ara? I thought you wanted to get to Uzumaki as well?"

Shizuka put a finger on her cheek, eyebrows furrowed. "That's true, but I really don't like walking either."

The pinkette blanched at her answer, clearly unprepared for it. Kohta looked down at his ammunition before looking back at the other two fighters. "Komuro-kun! Busujima-senpai! I'm low on nails!"

Saeko smacked one in the head, spinning around the other, and repositioning her bokken for a better swing, before swinging down and smashing the head of anther undead. Takashi's bat clanged as he 'home runned' one of the undead's heads, kicking another back and reverse swinging at another creature's face, knocking it on it's back.

Saeko held up her bokken, amused. "Would you like to use this?"

Kohta cried slightly, despite the situation. "I'm no good at close range!"

She smirked and closed her eyes, "Right now…" She swung her bokken, effectively getting rid of the blood gathered on it. Clearly she was having fun. "The only thing I can do is fight!"

Bloodlust filled her eyes as she launched forward, smile in place. She proceeded to swing at heads, smashing them one after another. While she's not as quick, or animalistic as Naruto when he fights, She wasn't the national champion in kendo for no good reason…

Suddenly the sound of a bike interrupted combat, they all looked around, confused where it was coming from. Shido's eyes widened, looked around as well. "It couldn't be….could it?" he muttered lowly…

And then they heard it…

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" followed by a maniacal laughter.

Saeko blinked in surprised, along with everyone else as a motorcycle suddenly appeared from the side of the bridge, clearly having jumped from something. Driving the bike, was a screaming Rei, who looked absolutely terrified, and behind her was…

Well he wasn't behind her anymore.

Naruto was flying through the air, having jumped off the bike, and was soaring to the back of the group. On his face was an excited grin, blue eyes sparkling in the dazzling evening night. In his sole hand was his kunai, flashing dangerously. Instead of Naruto's orange shirt, he was wearing a plain black one, and they noticed that he was actually pretty clean for once.

Shido gasped, grinning in delight, as somehow his proclamation from earlier came true. "Naruto-kun!"

Saya blanched, shocked at seeing him. "U-Uzumaki?!"

Saeko smiled happily, "Uzumaki-kun!"

Takashi growled, unhappy. Everyone else was just as shocked to see Naruto basically appearing out of thin air, flying towards a group of zombies with nothing but a knife and a pair of huge brass balls.

Naruto, like he had done a couple times before, landed on the face of one of the undead, stomping it into the ground as he stabbed another in the eyeball. His grin didn't falter one bit as he jumped up in the air and split kicked two creatures away from himself, landing gracefully before taking off in a burst of speed, stabbing and slicing as he cut through the crowed of undead that had appeared before everyone.

Rei had landed the bike near Saeko and Takashi, knocking over several undead as she jumped off the bike, letting it crash into the railing of the bridge. She pulled out her makeshift spear and stabbed one of the undead in the face. Takashi grinned at seeing the love of his life completely unharmed.

"Rei!"

With renewed vigor, he started to swing at undead, left and right bashing their heads in. Rei grinned at Takashi, glad to see him safe and sound. She pulled out the gun in her pocket.

"Hirano!"

Kohta looked over to Rei, who smiled and chucked the gun at him, with near perfect aim. He caught it in his hand and grinned like a maniac, somehow resembling Naruto's. He laughed as he pointed it at an undead and pulled the trigger, a loud bang ringing through the area as it's head exploded. Kohta went to go fire some more bullets at the group behind when his jaw dropped and he felt a rush of hair fly past him.

Just the like the students standing there, his jaw had hit the floor. Naruto had already cleared that are of undead, and that gust of wind that flew by him…? Yeah, that was Naruto. He turned around and watched the blonde blue fly up to the three close range fighters taking on a majority of the horde.

"Saeko-chan! Taka-chan! We're hooo~~mee!" the blonde yelled out.

They both turned around, and grinned. Naruto ran by Saeko, and jumped above some undead, landing in the middle of the group, before spinning around, with speed none were able to see, He stabbed several of them through the head. He then proceeded to Spartan kick creature into another one that had snuck up on Takashi, knocking the two undead off of the bridge. Takashi blinked when he realized Naruto had saved his life, while looking way too cool doing it.

He proceeded to knock the legs out from underneath one, with a clean sweep before stabbing another in the back of it's neck. When the first one hit the floor, he stabbed it's head too, blood spraying from the wound. He kicked it's body down the line knocking several more undead over on their feet. Takashi and Saeko capitalized on this, pushing forward and slamming their weapons down on the heads of the fallen zombies.

Naruto shoulder checked another one that was near Rei, knocking it off of the bridge, before turning around and stabbing another undead. He hefted it over his shoulder and behind him, before finishing with a head butt to a third. He grinned down at the unmoving creature before looking back at his companions. They were just finishing up the rest of the undead as he relaxed. He stabbed the last one in it's eyeball without looking at it, and turned to the group. Surprisingly, he wasn't as blood covered as he was back at the school.

He gave them his patented foxy grin before chuckling. Saeko and Takashi both smiling at the blonde while Rei giggled lightly.

"Miss me?"

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 **~~o0O0o~~**

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CHAPTER 5, OH GOD. Now we're starting to see the slight deviation from the main story line. With a group much bigger, how will it play out? Please keep reading to find out! Once again if you have questions or comments please review! I will be doing my best to answer different reviews and doing my best not to spoil anything either. Until next time!

Ja Ne!


	6. Chapter 6

I just want to say that I DO NOT own either Naruto or Highschool of the Dead. And I hope you like the book. Please Read and Review! Thank you everyone for reviewing! It helps a lot and makes me feel really good haha. **Just to let everyone know that I have been updating so frequently because I don't have classes or work this week. But I work Thursday through Sunday, so I most likely won't update any time during those days. I'll try to get a chapter out as soon as I have a day off though.**

Questions/comments –

Catze86 – In regards to Shido basically worshipping him…I would say that he's manipulating Naruto's position into a positive light for himself more than actually worshipping him.

Razorworlf1998 – Thank you! I'm trying pretty hard to actually stop and think about what Naruto would do in a situation, while progressing his maturity as well. Turns out, it's actually a lot harder to do that than I realized. But I feel like I've been adequate.

She Wo Walks With Death – Thank you for your input! I thought about what could make my own story different from anyone else's and a few ideas popped into my head. As much as I like my cool badass Naruto moments, making a whole story where he would only do that would be boring. Naruto is unique, an idiot, fun loving hyperactive teen who can flip 180 into a serious mood if needed. Even in situations, Naruto will use whatever means necessary to gain the upper hand, even if it seems completely ridiculous. (Kaguya's fight for example, when he uses the reverse harem jutsu on her… I died.)

DARTH SAI – I know you've been waiting for his chakra to come back, but his healing factor is only present because of his Uzumaki chakra. And in my story I'm making it seem as though, the chakra networks can't heal themselves, if there's no way for them to travel through the coils. In my head, I think that it would require an outside source to heal his network at least to a degree where his self healing would come into play. I'm sorry for the wait, but it won't be for a while.

Lightningblade49 – I wouldn't call Takashi the kind to stab someone in the back, and I'm not trying to portray that BUT… Takashi is a jealous guy. His love for Rei is truly in a league of it's own, and he hates seeing other people with her. He distanced himself from his best friend because he started to date Rei, and not to mention he would go and sulk on a balcony during class hours. Clearly the thought of Rei being with anyone other than himself puts him a sour mood. Other than that hiccup in his character, he's a great guy.

Ejammer – Thank you for liking the fic! But I have disagree with you on that. Naruto had forgiven someone who had murdered his sensei. Someone who was very dear to him. Someone he was really close with, and I'm sure he considered Jiraiya as a member of his family, maybe a crazy uncle or a perverted grandfather. If he can do that, he can forgive a civilian teacher who left behind a student who didn't even die (thanks to Naruto). While it breaks his moral code, he wouldn't just kill or abandon the guy either.

That's all I think for questions/comments that I can answer. If you do have a question, please put it in a review, or pm me, and I'll address it in the next chapter. Of course I'm not going to say anything that might spoil the story!

Please enjoy!

Pairings: NarutoxHarem

" **Speaking."** Kyuubi speaking

" ** _Thinking."_** Kyuubi thinking

"Speaking." Person speaking

" _Thinking."_ Person thinking

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

 **Deceiving The Apocalypse**

Chapter 6

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

"Miss me?"

Blonde hair and blue eyes grinned at the group of people that stood in front of him. He scratched the back of his head, looking excited to be back. Saeko smiled softly at him, and Takashi couldn't help but dispel all of his ill feelings towards the blonde. Once you're in his presence, you can't help but smile. Rei giggled into her hand at his behavior.

"Wow…" Shizuka muttered in awe from the skill displayed by the team. No matter how many times she's seen Naruto fight those undead, he never ceases to amaze her at his skills.

"It seems as though we have cleared this area." Saeko muttered, observing her surroundings.

Shizuka turned to the pinkette, "That was tough!" she said excitedly.

Saya glared at her sensei, sweat dropping. "It's not like you did anything…"

Rei ran over to Shizuka. "Sensei!" She jumped and hugged her around her neck, burying her face into her bosom snuggling her. Shizuka laughed, glad to see the brunette safe and unharmed. "Ara ara, Miyamoto! What a goincidence!"

Rei's mind took a second to register what she had said before she frowned. "…don't you mean coincidence?" she muttered quietly.

"Naruto-kun too!" She said smiling at the blonde who was looking at the two with a smile. Naruto blinked in surprise at her acknowledgement.

"I take it that Tokonosu Bridge is also closed off?" Saeko asked Naruto, walking up to him, smiling gently.

Naruto nodded, grinning back at the girl. "Yup, there's nowhere to go. Glad to see you're safe, Saeko-chan."

She nodded, closing her eyes softly. "I'm glad you are safe as well, Uzumaki-kun."

She suddenly was surprised when she felt her cheek be pinched and stretched. Her eyes widened, seeing as nobody had ever done that to her before. Naruto was holding her one cheek, frowning angrily at her. "Na-ru-to. Say it with me. Naruto. That is my name." He let go of her cheek, while she stood there stock still, in shock. Naruto pouted and crossed his arm. "Uzumaki was my father."

Then he tilted his head. "Wait no, he wasn't." He turned back to Saeko, "Correction! Uzumaki was my mother! Don't call me by my mother's name!"

Saeko giggled and then burst out into a laugh, but Naruto's own cheek was pulled down as a pinkette grabbed it roughly. Effectively gaining his attention. "And what about me?!"

Naruto laughed at her, sweeping her into a hug, which earned a squeak of surprise from her. Now her face was as pink as her hair in embarrassement. "Of course Saya-chan! How could I forget about you!"

He set her down and laughed at her expression. The blush combined with her flabbergasted look was pretty amusing. Even Saeko had giggled into her hand more, laughing at the girl's expense.

"If I had known he was going to do that, I wouldn't have asked." Saya said, mortified that she was just picked up like a little girl. She shuddered at the thought of Naruto picking her up as a child, and carrying her on his shoulders. And tucking her in bed. And kissing her forehe-WAIT JUST A MINUTE SAYA. No more thoughts. Just stop thinking.

"Naruto-sama!"

Naruto turned around again with a raised eyebrow before he was tackled to the ground by an orange blur. He groaned as he opened his eyes, feeling a weight on his stomach. Briefly it took him a second to understand what was even going on before he quickly squealed girlishly. A beautiful girl with short orange hair with a headband holding it back, was sitting on him. She was blushing cutely, and smiling down at the blonde. Her brown eyes deliciously sparkling in the sunlight as she gave him one of the _sexiest_ looks that any one has ever given him. To say he was scared for his life was an understatement.

"Ah! Wha! Who! Ehhh?!" Naruto stuttered out as the girl leaned over Naruto, giving him an ample view of her cleavage. He blushed heavily and averted his eyes.

"Naruto-sama!" She moaned out, "Sensei was telling us that you would come back and save us, and you didn't fail ussss~"

Saeko and Takashi blinked in shock at the blantent attempt by the girl, while Saya blushed and was gaping visibly. Hirano was giggling at the view, a small nosebleed on his face. Rei actually clenched her teeth in annoyance at the act, her eyebrow twitching.

Shizuka giggled. "Looks like Naruto-kun has more admirers."

Naruto looked at the other blonde, petrified. "A-Admirers?!"

"Naruto-samaaaaa~!"

Sweat started to pool on his forehead, "S-Sama? And w-what is happening?! I'm sorry but who even are you?!" Naruto all but shouted in panic. He was not used to this, especially since was rubbing herself all over him, grinding in a specific spot that he did NOT want everyone here to even see him like this. This was so embarrassing.

"Yuuki-chan, please get off of him, clearly he is uncomfortable."

Naruto looked to see who his savior was, and was a little bit surprised to see Shido standing there, frowning at the girl. The now named, Yuuki sighed before getting off of Naruto, leaving him blushing and stunned on the ground. Yuuki pouted.

"Sensei, I was just showing him my appreciation." She whined to the older gentlemen.

Shido smiled at her, "You can show your appreciation later to him, right now we must find shelter."

"Absolutely not!" Everyone turned to the pinkette, who was blushing uncontrollable. Only in slightly better shape than the blue eyed teen on the ground. "Nobody is going to show any sort of 'appreciation' or anything of the sorts to ANYone!"

Saya huffed in annoyance, clearly irate from the situation. Saeko burst out into laughter, gaining everyone's attention. She smiled at everyone. "Well you certainly are an energetic group!" she giggled some more.

Naruto lied on the ground still, controlling his hormones and his blushing face before sitting up. He looked up to see Niki and Misuzu smiling gently down at him. Naruto chuckled. "Nice to see you guys are safe as well. Did everyone get off the bus then?"

Niki nodded, "Yep! We're all here, ready to follow your lead!"

Naruto looked around, looking for something, or rather someone. He frowned. "Where's Naomi-chan?"

Everyone looked around from the question. Shizuka tilted her head, confused as well. "Ara? She was just here beside me."

Naruto felt himself panic slightly, and he jumped to his feet, running backwards in search of her. The sound of flesh hitting flesh was the only clue he needed to know where to look. He jogged lightly towards the back and rounded a car, seeing Naomi lying there. Tears were running down her face, and she was hitting the face of an undead with her bare fist, which he had now noticed was bleeding slightly. He furrowed his eyebrows in pity, sighing sadly.

"Naomi…" he softly breathed.

He could hear the footsteps of the others behind him, but he ignored them. This was a job for him, and him alone. He had taken responsibility for the girl, and he will carry it out. After all, he had promised Takuzo that he would. What kind of Hokage would he be if he couldn't even keep his promises?

He gently walked up to the girl, trying not to startle her. She kept hitting the undead's face over and over again. Her eyes wide and blank except for the tears that streamed down her cheeks, dripping off of her chin.

"Naomi." He called, trying to get her attention. It was no use.

"Naomi-chan." He called even louder this time, and it was clear as day to him that she won't respond to him without stimulation. Gently he crouched next to her and grabbed her hand. What he wasn't expecting was for the raven haired girl to swing her fist at him in surprise. With only one hand holding onto hers, her fist connected with his nose. He grunted in pain and let go of her hand, clutching the nose.

His eyes watered and he looked down at his hand. There was blood on his hand, and clearly she had broken he appendage. Naruto closed one eye, trying to avoid the watering of his eyes getting worse. The nose was always so sensitive for him.

Naomi gasped and brought her hands to her mouth, covering them. "Oh my god, Naruto-kun. I'm so sorry!" the tears flowing out of her eyes didn't recede. "It's just…I saw them…a-and I couldn't help myself…I-I just kept thinking about him." She lowered her head and sobbed a little.

Naruto sighed and wrapped his arms around her as she silently cried, attempting to pull herself together. She's already cried enough, now she doesn't want to cry anymore. The others behind them only watched with a heavy air hanging above them. Rei completely understood where this girl was at. Losing the one you love…She bowed her head to hide her eyes. At least in Rei's situation, she was able to take her aggression out on the undead themselves. This girl had no way to fight, no way to defend herself.

Naruto quietly cooed in her ear, whispering soft nothings. Literally anything for her to settle herself. After a few minutes of doing this, Naruto noticed that she had stopped crying. He looked down at her, and noticed that somehow she had fallen asleep. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance slightly. Good god, what kind of luck does he have? He looked back at the others and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry for the wait, it seems like she's asleep now." He chuckled awkwardly.

Saya sighed, crossing her arms. "Well, you'll just have to carry her then." She pointed out.

Naruto sweat dropped, "I-I guess so, I did promise after all…" He muttered the last part, a few of them picking up on it. Slowly, he adjusted the girl behind him, and put her on his back, although with some difficulty. Somehow in the process, he didn't wake up the girl. Good god she must be tired. As he stood up, he noticed everyone was looking at him. He blinked.

"What is it?"

Shido pushed his glasses up, "We were wondering what you'd like us to do, _leader_."

"Oh, yeah." Naruto blinked, remembering that he was their leader, and now in charge of keeping all of these people safe. He tilted his head thinking, the first plan might be to try to catch everyone up to speed on what he and Rei and found out, and give them a chance to clean up a little. Then finding a place for shelter so everyone could rest and eat. He was sure they were all exhausted and tired, most likely getting next to zero sleep and food.

He nodded at everyone. "Let's go down by the river and take a few minutes to catch our breaths, wash the blood out, and talk about stuff."

Everyone nodded and he led them down by the riverside. Gently he found a place to set Naomi down, and rummaged through his backpack, taking out the sweatshirt that he had grabbed just in case. He covered the sleeping Naomi with the sweatshirt and then nodded in approval. Most everyone was washing their faces and hands with the water in the river. Saeko walked up next to him, having already been clean, and put her hands on her hips, looking over the water.

"I'm guessing you want to know what happened?"

Naruto looked over at her and smiled, "A little information could be nice."

Saeko turned to him, a gentle smile playing at her lips. Naruto couldn't help but notice just how different her eye color was depending on her mood and the time of the day. While normally a bright blue like his, they were now a dark blue, almost purple color. He hummed a response to her.

"Go ahead, Saeko-chan."

She nodded, "While on the bus there it was impossible to travel. Too many people were stuck in transit, desperately trying to get out of the city. We were at a standstill." Saeko started. "We all were wearing thin on our patience, especially with Shido preaching to his students about your amazing power and strength. Something I actually find myself agree with him about." She smiled at him. Naruto blushed and laughed lightly, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm nothing amazing or anything." He mumbled.

"But you are." Saeko continued, her eyes gazing into his. "By no means, are you a normal person. And while we haven't had the opportunity to talk, there is something about you that you are keeping secret. I won't push the topic until you are prepared."

Naruto looked at her, feeling less embarrassed and more ashamed. "Well, it's not that I don't trust you guys, y'know? It's just that I think you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"My, aren't you skeptical." Saeko muttered, staring at Naruto from the corner of her eyes.

He shrugged. "It's what I think. We'll find out if you believe me later."

She simply nodded in response before Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Now what else happened?"

Saeko hummed for a second, thinking about where she picked off before she continued. "We exited the bus due to the blocking of the road and have been unable to cross the river."

Naruto nodded, it was brief but it gave him enough of an idea of what was going on. Saya walked up to them, joining in on the conversation. "The water level has risen. I guess it wouldn't be possible to go upstream."

Rei walked over to them as well, Takashi and Hirano following behind her. "So what should we do?"

Naruto could only sweat drop, thinking about how he could have just walked across the water if he just had his control back, but alas…no such luck. He almost snorted at the thought of everyone's face if he were to walk on water. Shido might _actually_ believe he's Jesus or something. He let out a smile of amusement.

They were looking at him again, since he's been quiet for a couple minutes now. Clearly they were wondering what he wanted to do in this situation. He coughed into his hand, pushing his amusing thoughts out of his mind. "I think for now we should find a place to rest. Get some food, sleep, and figure out the plan of action afterwards."

He nodded to himself, that sounded pretty good. "Um…" He heard a voice behind him, and he saw Shizuka standing there, with Shido's group slightly behind her. The other blonde tilted her head cutely. "You see, there's a place we can use. It's nearby, so we can walk there."

Saya hummed, raising an eyebrow. "Is it your boyfriends?"

Shizuka blushed heavily, and waved her hands in front of her in denial. "N-No! It belongs to my female friend! She's always busy and traveling because of work! She gave me the key. I go over there while she's gone and let some fresh air in."

Naruto pictured her with a maid's outfit on, waving good bye to him as he exited the apartment. He giggled perversely, and looked beside him. Both Takashi and Kohta were doing the same thing. They all three smirked at each other and gave a thumbs up, clearly agreeing that it was a very good scene to picture.

Kohta tilted his head in thought. "Is it an apartment? Is the view good?"

Shizuka nodded, smiling brightly. "Yep! It's a maisonette that's next to the river. It's close to a convenience store too! Oh, and she has a car too. It looks like a tank and it's thiiiis big!" She held her arms out as an example of how big it was. Naruto watched her boobs bounce up and down at the action…seriously, how do they even do that? His eyes drifted up back to her face.

Saya scratched her neck, feeling the fatigue settle now that Naruto had brought it up. "It's true, I am really tired. I'd like to shower while there's still working electricity."

Kohta looked at her with is lecherous eyes, clearly imagining what she might look like naked. "Sounds good."

Her eye twitched and she kicked him in the stomach. Naruto laughed at it, a deep throaty laugh. It's been a while since he's actually burst out laughing from something. Saeko smiled gently, watching the whole scene unfold in front of her. Others there giggled at the two as well. The purple haired girls drifted over to Naruto as he clutched his stomach, still laughing. It was amazing that he was able to keep a positive attitude in a situation like this.

Takashi couldn't help but smile seeing the blonde hunched over with laughter. It was contagious, he knew it. The blonde shared his feelings on his sleeve, and it was more like a blanket than anything else. If Naruto was happy, almost everyone else was happy as well. If he was sad…well, you get the picture. Rei enjoyed his laughter as well, a small blush on her face. The blonde wiped his eyes as he pointed at Kohta, clearly enjoying his misfortune.

Shido pushed his glasses up and let his presence be known again. "We should get moving before it's too dark."

Naruto jumped up and pointed animatedly at the man, "Excellent idea Shido!"

He smiled and bowed a little. "Please Naruto-kun. Call me Koichi."

Naruto shuddered slightly, feeling creeped out by the older man suddenly. "Er…no I think I'll stick with Shido."

The greasy haired man back pedaled in surprised, hurt by his statement. "Naruto-kun please! I insist, as your right hand man, that you must call me Koichi!"

Naruto shook his head vehemently. "Nobody is anyone's right hand man! Where the hell did you get that from?!" seriously though, how did he get that thought in his head?

Shido took a step towards the blonde, reaching his hand out and putting it onto his shoulder. Naruto flinched from the touch and backed away. This is too much. Too creepy. Please man, spare yourself the embarrassement. Naruto awkwardly looked over at his friends who were clearly amused by this situation. He begged them with his eyes to save him. Shido took another step forward, getting way to close in his personal space. Their noses were almost touching.

He grabbed Naruto's hand, holding in to his chest. "Naruto-kun please!"

"Ack! No! Stay away from me!" He ripped his hand away and started to run in the opposite direction, Shido chasing after him.

"But Naruto-kun!"

"No means no, Shido! Didn't your father teach you that!"

"My father was nothing like you, Naruto-kun! Please we must get closer! I must know your ins and outs! To do that you must call me Koichi!"

"W-What?! No! Hell no!"

"Naruto-kun!"

"Stop it! No! Taka-chan! Tsuno-kun! Help me! Rei-chan! Saya-chan! Saeko-chan! Literally anyone?! HEEEEELP!"

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

They all stood in front of the apartment, Naruto holding on to the now awake Naomi's hand. As he had promised Takuzo, he would look after the girl, and god knows what she might do if she wasn't supervised. Lights came on all around the garage of the maisonette, and Naruto tilted his head, confused. He's never seen a vehicle like that before.

"What's that?" He asked, turning to everyone else.

"It's a Humvee!" Kohta said, eyes practically sparkling in amusement. Naruto blinked at him. Humvee? What? "And a military model at that!"

Shizuka nodded her head in agreement. "See? Doesn't it look like a tank?"

Naruto sighed. What the hell does a tank look like?

Saya looked intrigued, looking at the Humvee up and down. "What kind of friend do you have?"

Saya's question was ignored as Rei turned to look at the fence. "I bet those things can't jump the fence. We should be able to sleep peacefully."

Takashi sighed, clearly tired as well. "Anyway, we should hurry up."

He finished and they all noticed a group of undead piling on the courtyard. Naruto tilted his head, oh so there were some here now. They must have been drawn to their voice. He could feel Naomi start to shake next to him and he looked at her. He squeezed her hand comfortingly and smiled at her. Her grey eyes bore into his own and she seemed to calm down. He turned back to look at everyone and smiled reassuringly.

"You all stay here; I'll go deal with them."

Saeko held her bokken out, "Not alone you won't."

Takashi, Rei, and Kohta all followed suit. Brandishing their weapons. "You think you'll go alone?" Rei asked, smiling over at her friend.

Takashi, pushed one of his sleeves up, smirking slightly. "No way I can let you show me up!"

Naruto merely laughed, amused. "Hell yeah! That's the spirit! Let's go everyone!"

Naruto kicked open the door, taking off after the undead, his combat team as he liked to call them, were quickly behind him. He brandished his kunai and jumped into the fray. He dashed forward sliding under a grab and planting his hand on the ground, pushing up and kicking the chin of an undead sending it flying into the air. Naruto smirked lightly, copying Lee's technique slightly. He threw the kunai through the air, impaling the airborne zombie's head.

He spun on his heel and delivered a harsh hook to the side of another undead's face, the skull concaving under the impact. He could feel the sticky blood on his hand, and the sound of bone breaking. It felt good. Just to pound these things into the ground. His eyes darted over his shoulder as he heard the sound of another groan behind him. He roundhouse kicked the creature in the jaw, twisting it's head around with a sickening snap. Naruto grabbed one of the undead's shirts and heaved it over to where Takashi was fighting, knocking over the two undead and allowing the teen to beat their skills in with his bat.

Takashi looked over at Naruto and smirked, giving him a thumbs up. Naruto merely grinned in response as he went over and picked up his kunai, jumping up and over a few undead. He landed behind one, silently, and thrust the kunai into the back of its head. The sound of blood hitting the ground rang in Naruto's ears and he used his combat abilities as a stress reliever. He kicked another's legs out from underneath it while simultaneously pushing another one forward. He curb stomped the head of the one he knocked over, and chucked his kunai into the last one standing out of his group. Effectively ending it's afterlife. He bent down, and gave a good kick to one of the bodies. Picking up his kunai, he wiped the blood off and pocketed it, looking back to see how the others were faring.

They all were panting, minus Saeko, as they finished their group, which had been a tad smaller than his. Naruto grinned at them.

"How's it going?"

Saeko merely smirked at the blue eyed wonder, "We have things covered and I see you have finished as well. Should we tell the others to come up?" Naruto nodded, heading down to go get them.

"You guys go in, I'll bring everyone in."

They nodded, and proceeded inside, looking to clear the building before they could all relax. Naruto smiled as he watched his little soldiers go. He blinked. Oh? Did he call them _his_ soldiers? He chuckled absentmindedly, wondering if this was how it felt to be a sensei with a genin team. He could get used to it. The only difference was that he wasn't training these guys in anything…kind of like his lazy bastard of a teacher himself. His smile faded as he thought about his home…

What was everyone up too? Who was Hokage? Had they finished rebuilding and repairing? Or was there a lot of work that needed to be done yet? His thoughts drifted back to his teammates and sensei. He wondered how they were doing…Sasuke would probably be taken into custody, and questioned…I mean they'd be crazy not to do that… He shook his head, ridding his thoughts about his home. Now was not the time to do this. He walked back to the group and looked down, smiling at them.

"You can all come in now, it's clear."

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Once everyone was inside, and the coast was clear Naruto collapsed in a chair in front of everyone. He peaked out at the rag tag group of teens that he had involved himself with, and couldn't help but smile. They were his friends. He waved his hand to get all of their attention. Slowly conversation dropped and they were all silently awaiting whatever he was going to say.

"We'll stay here for a while." Naruto started, rubbing his eyes and avoiding his tender nose…no thanks to you, Naomi-chan! "There are two bathrooms in here and we'll allow the girls to use the bathrooms first. While you all bath I'm going to go to that convenience store nearby and get some stuff. Like clothes, and some food. And anything else that might be useful."

Several people frowned at what he had said, it wasn't safe for him to leave alone. Rei however was the only one who smiled. She was the only one who knew of Naruto's abilities, and she knew that out of everyone here, he'd be the safest to go off alone. She couldn't help but feel slightly happy that she had known so much about him while nobody else knew anything. It made her special in Naruto's eyes. And that made her happy.

"Uzuma-" Saeko started but was interrupted by a harsh glare from Naruto. She paused, then continued. "Naruto-san, you're going alone? Some of us should come with you."

Naruto shook his head, "Na I'll be fine. You guys can relax here, okay? When the girls are done, boys get to shower next then and I'll probably be back by the time they get out…knowing you guys." He teased them, several of them frowning at the insult and the guys couldn't help but smile. It was so true…

He stood up, stretching his old bones, ready to go out. Everyone was dispersing ready to go about doing their own things. Naruto felt a tug on his hand and looked behind him to see Naomi shyly looking down. She was biting her lip, and blushing.

"N-Naruto-kun…don't go…help me…wash."

The room suddenly seemed quiet, but Naruto could only focus on what she had said. His mind was blank. The cogs slowly turning and processing exactly what she had said. Naruto felt himself blush as he inhaled sharply. His face suddenly felt very hot and he struggled to find anything to say.

"You can't Satoshi!"

Naruto looked back to see almost everyone staring at them, Naruto really wasn't sure what to do in this position. He could honestly say he's never washed anyone, nor does he want to was Naomi. It would be too awkward…but then he could see her naked…no no no, Naruto bad thoughts, that's just taking advantage of the situation. You'd be the bad guy! He shook his head and looked down at Naomi. Rei walked up to the two of them, grabbing her hands.

"Boys shouldn't bath with girls, and Naruto _definitely_ shouldn't wash you up." Her eyes shot him a glare and he made a face in surprise. "His lecherous eyes will do no good."

Naruto clutched his heart again, feeling the blow. "Do you think so lowly of me?!"

Saya walked up next to the girl as well, "We can't trust you Uzumaki. You're a hormonal growing teenage boy. Who knows what kind of things you would do to her."

Naomi was beet red, looking down at the floor. The two girls standing protectively next to her. Naruto felt like he was being attacked. He hung his head and faked crying. "Even Saya-chan…there's no point. I have nothing left to live for!"

The two girls sighed, dragging the blushing girl away from Naruto. Oh what did he do to deserve those harsh statements. He's never peeped on anyone! He scratched his head, women just don't make any sense to him at all. He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at the person and noticed that it happened to be Shido, he sniffled. Shido pushed his glasses up on his nose and with a completely serious face…

He said. "Women are mysterious."

The unsaid statement hung in the air above the men. Naruto nodded at the man, sharing his pain. Women, ugh…. He felt another hand on his shoulder and Takashi was giving him a determined look. "We're behind you! You did nothing wrong!"

He smiled, sniffling some more. "Thanks you guys."

They nodded started to go their separate ways. Naruto's eyes landed on the form of Shido, then drifted to Tsunoda's… he grinned evilly.

"Oi, Shido, Tsunoda."

They both turned around, curious as to what he could have possibly wanted. Naruto grinned at them, picking up Takashi's bat and holding up his kunai. "You two are coming with me."

Their reaction was instantaneous and amusing to Naruto. Shido paled looked like he was going to vomit, while Tsunoda looked irritated, glaring at Naruto. "Why us?" He asked, not wanting to come on the trip with the blonde.

He put a hand on his hip, lowering the weapons. "I'm going to show you how to fight, or at least defend yourself. When it comes to battle capacity, we are seriously lacking. Our group is too big to only have a few of us be able to fight off those things." He said this all with an even look, arguing his point.

Tsunoda thrust his hands in his pockets, "And it has to be us, why?"

Naruto walked up to him, giving him his own personal kunai. "Because _you_ already know how to fight. And you should be fighting…" He glanced over at Shido who was now staring at him as well. "And Shido had once said he wanted to be the leader. And to me, a leader is someone who fights along with their men."

He handed the bat to Shido, who held it gingerly. He grinned at the both. "Don't worry, nothing will happen, since I'm there!"

Shido and Tsunoda shared a look before cautiously nodded to the teen, who grinned and pointed towards the door. "Let's go!"

The three of them left with slight grumbling from Tsunoda. They left the compound, and quietly walked through the streets, heading in the direction of the convenient store. Naruto confidently led them, eyes on the lookout for any potential threats, while Tsunoda and Shido seemed to be a little jumpy. He smirked as he watched them over his shoulder. As they continued walking, Naruto noticed that their steps were light, quiet, like they actually were trained in this sort of thing.

He blinked, "You guys…" they jumped a little when he had mentioned them. "You guys move fairly easily."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsunoda asked grumpily.

Naruto stopped and turned to them, pointing at their feet. "Your steps are light. I'm surprised, actually. Impressed." He nodded to emphasize his statement.

Shido smirked at him, "Why Naruto-kun, surely you weren't aware that I was the club advisor for the track and field team? I am a very good runner."

Naruto hummed in thought, "Hooooh, really? I had no clue."

Shido blinked, "No idea?"

"Nope."

She faltered slightly, not expecting such a reply. "I…see."

Naruto shrugged, "But it makes this so much easier for me to tell you then." They both stared at him, wondering what he possibly could be spewing out now. Naruto pointed to the side, showing a few undead stumbling up to them. They both back pedaled in fear and Naruto chuckled at them. "Oh come on, they're ugly but not _that_ scary."

Tsunoda glared at him, holding the kunai defensively. "Some of us aren't freaks like you are. We can't just forget what we've seen."

Naruto put a hand on his chin, thinking. "Hmmm, but doesn't the things you've seen make you stronger?" Tsunoda started to sweat as several more undead started to come out of the shadows, groaning and fumbling towards the trio. Naruto smiled at it. "Here, let me show you."

Naruto brought out his own kunai, and held it in a forward grip, in front of him slightly and angled, knees bent barely. It wasn't anything special, but Tsunoda could tell that he was prepared for anything. Ready to defend or attack at a moment's notice. He looked at Naruto's posture and imitated it, feeling slightly off about it though. Naruto grinned over at him, eyes sparkling.

"You're getting it! But relaaaaxx. A stiff posture is just spelling for bad news. Take a few deep breaths, and calm yourself. I won't anything happen to you two."

Shido himself, had taken Naruto's advice, holding the bat. "What should I do with this?" He asked the blonde.

Naruto grinned and made a swinging motion. "Bash their heads in, of course!"

Shido started to sweat but he faced two of the undead, holding the bat. With all of his strength, he winded up and smacked one of the undead. It's head collapsed and blood spewed everywhere, coating the bat and the ground. Shido smiled slightly, at seeing him kill one. It gave him a little more confidence and he uppercut another one, knocking it over. He followed it by overhead swinging the bat down on it's forehead as well. It's skull was crush like a watermelon, blood and brain matter spilling across the ground.

If not for what Shido had seen the day before, he would have puked, he was sure of it. Still the gagging motions he made were noticed by Naruto as he thinned the herd a little bit. He looked at Shido over his shoulder. "You'll get used to that. It's not pretty, but that's what happens."

Shido merely nodded, "It's impressive that you are able to do this without flinching, Naruto-kun. A true leader if I'd ever seen one."

Tsunoda swung the blade out, jabbing like he had watched Naruto do several times. His blade pierced the skull of the undead, slumping over. He grunted as he pulled the kunai out and looked down at his hands. It was already covered with blood. He frowned. "This isn't a clean job is it?"

Naruto chuckled, "Not at all, it gets real gross after It dries on you too." He scrunched his nose, looking down at his own hands covered with dry skin. He couldn't wait for them to go back to the apartment to get washed up. Naruto waved for them to follow him after they had dispatched the few undead he left for them.

"I mean, their scary right? But all you have to do is not let them get too close, or too many surrounding you." Naruto lectured them, the two other men listening intently. "Always be aware of your surroundings, and look for ways for you to escape. It's better to run away and fight another day, than to die needlessly." He grinned at them, trying to calm their nerves somewhat. "If not, then I'll always be there to cover your sorry asses."

They both couldn't help but smile at him, taking comfort in his words. Shido pushed his glasses up, "Naruto-kun, might I ask why you are so strong?"

Naruto continued to lead them to the store. He tilted his head, thinning his lips in thought. Should he tell them now? Or later? He looked back at them, noticing they were waiting. He chuckled sheepishly, "Well to be honest, it's a long story. But the short version is that I'm from a different dimension where people have super powers. Mine are temporarily out of commission right now."

He kept walking but he noticed that he only hears one pair of footsteps right now. He looked back and blinked, noticing the two of them completely stunned, mouths hanging open. He laughed at their expression, enjoying the moment. "You guys look like idiots!" he laughed some more, holding his stomach.

Thankfully, Shido was the first to come to his senses, "Surely, you jest Naruto-kun. That kind of stuff doesn't exist." He laughed uncomfortably, looking down at his other companion. Tsunoda nodded in agreement.

Naruto stared at the two of them, a small smile on his face. They were getting a little bit nervous because he hadn't said anything in quite some time. His bright blue eyes looked back and forth between them, before he sighed and scratched his head. He leaned on one leg and looked at them with a little bit of annoyance.

"I guess I'll just show you." Naruto muttered to them and he crouched down. They really didn't know what he might be able to show them, but they paid close attention.

Naruto took a deep breath and braced himself for the pain. It might not be enough to show them what he can do, but his ability to use his chakra was all but gone right now. This was the most he could think of doing. He grunted in pain as he pushed chakra into his legs, almost buckling them from the agony. He clenched his teeth, and without wasting time, jumped as high as he possibly could. Tsunoda and Shido both fell over when Naruto jumped, the sudden burst of air he had produced had knocked them on their ass, completely unprepared.

They watched as Naruto jumped…more like flew through the air, reaching 20-30 feet into the air, _easily_. Naruto came back down from his jump and landed in a crouch before slumping on his side, holding his legs. He groaned in pain, god they just need to heal already, this was beginning to be too much for him. He looked up at the other two, expecting them to say anything.

The looks he received were something he half expected.

Tsunoda actually looked a little afraid, his hands shaking slightly. "Are…are you a monster?"

Naruto flinched when he heard the word, memories of his childhood surfacing. He forced a smile at the fake blonde. Trying to cover up his discomfort, both from the pain and from what Tsunoda had said. "Not a monster, a human. In my dimension, we all chakra. Our life force, balancing between our physical self and spiritual self. It allows us to boost our bodies, and create things nobody would think possible. When I was ripped from my home and put here, it had messed up my chakra, making it almost unusable except for an immense pain I get when I do somethings."

Shido shakily took a breath, "Naruto-kun…so just now, you are in pain from that?"

Naruto nodded, getting up and now standing on sore legs, a pulse of pain every time his heart beat. Shido merely smiled at him, amazed. Naruto shivered at the look. It was…unhealthy, slightly insane. It creeped him out. "Marvelous Naruto-kun, you are truly fit to be our leader! A God sent to our world from another! What a magnificent opportunity I have stumbled upon! Naruto-kun. I am honored to be in your presence." He bowed slightly, while holding his hand out with over exaggerated movements.

Naruto scratched his head, looking down awkwardly at the older man. "I'm no god, and don't bow. You're making me uncomfortable. I'm just an average guy trying to get home." He smiled at them.

Tsunoda shook his head, holding it slightly. "No wonder you were able to beat me so bad this past week. It's been driving me insane."

Naruto laughed, "Yeah, there's no way you'd ever win in a fight. Unless I was already half dead. Hmm no more like if I was knocking on deaths door." He mused lightly.

Tsunoda sighed, but couldn't help but smile with mirth. "You're such a bastard, Uzumaki."

Naruto smiled and continued to walk again, the other two getting up to follow him. Naruto suddenly stopped and turned around, blankly staring at Shido. "Oh yeah, Shido, could you trying to make me a leader of some cult. I don't want to deal with that shit on a day to day basis."

He smirked at the blonde, "But Naruto-kun, I've already planted the seeds of love in their hearts, even if I stop now, your excellence will surely outstand them!" He grinned at Naruto at the end, who blanched.

Tsunoda glared at the elder, "Oi, don't compare me with those losers back there. I absolutely hate this guy."

Naruto clutched his heart and fell to his knees. "Tsuno-kun how could you?! After everything I've done for you, you still hate me? What can I do to make it up to you?!" He pleaded grabbing onto Tsunoda's shirt. Tsunoda took a step back, trying to escape the clutches of Naruto.

"Oi, bastard! Let go!"

Naruto stood up and faced away from them, a dark cloud over his head. Tsunoda clicked his tongue in irritation. "You're just a big child." He muttered.

Naruto looked behind him and smiled, opting to not say anything else for their walk to the convenience store.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

Girlish squeals of delight came from the bathroom. Clearly they were enjoying themselves. In one of the bathrooms, it held Saya, Shizuka, Saeko, Rei, and Naomi. And the other bathroom had Yuuki, Niki, Misuzu, and the last two girls of Shido's group. Both bathrooms sounding quite loud, and sexual. Moans carried out into the hallway, leaving little for the boys to imagine.

In bathroom with Naruto's group, Saya and Saeko were washing on stools, while Naomi, Rei and Shizuka already were in the bath, all enjoying the warm it was giving them. They had felt absolutely disgusting, and it was a much needed break.

Shizuka sighed, her hair brought up in a towel. Rei stretched while sitting opposite of Shizuka. "This feels great!"

Shizuka nodded in agreement, "It's like I'm going to melt!"

Saya reached down and grabbed a random bottle, squinting a little. She couldn't make day or night of anything. Her glasses were not in so she couldn't see a damn thing. She glared at the bottle she was holding. "This is shampoo…right?" Beside her, Saeko merely laughed at her expense.

Rei suddenly spotted them. The targets were within range. Requesting permission to fire? Permission granted. Fire away. "Damn, Sensei, your boobs are huge!" Target destroyed.

Shizuka bounced them up and down, Rei felt her eyebrow twitched. Shizuka looked at her pair fondly. "Yeah I get that a lot."

Rei clenched a fist, closing her eyes in frustration. _"Dammit! She said that so confidently!"_ In her anger, she suddenly reached out and grabbed them. Shizuka moaned as the younger girl started to massage and bounce them between her hands. Naomi blushed while she was in the water, looking down at her own boobs, noticing that they were the smallest ones in the room.

"D-Don't, Miyamoto-san!" She moaned out as the girl continued to play with her boobs.

Saya felt her eyebrow twitch, and she was doing all she could not to burst a blood vessel. She was blushing heavily though at the sexual sounds the girls were making. "Seriously…it's not like we're in some boring eroge! Why are we taking a bath together?" She glared behind her at the two busy ladies.

Saeko turned to the pinkette, smiling gently. "You don't know, Takagi?"

Saya blushed and looked away. "Yeah, I guess…" She looked behind her again and gaped in shock, quickly turning around and washing her own hair. Must get the image out of her head. It'll stay permanently if she doesn't think about it. Yes, be gone image from her head! "But considering our situation, we shouldn't be letting our guard down like this."

Unknown to her, Saeko turned the water temperature down as low as it can go, and turned it onto the shower head spray. She smiled innocently as she sprayed the pinkette next to her with cold water. Saya squealed in shock, unconsciously shying away from the cold water. Saeko giggled lightly as she sprayed the younger girl.

"That sound was more pleasant than I had expected. With an attractive voice like that, any male woul-"

Suddenly a bucket of cold water was splashed onto her own back, She leaned forward, feeling the cold chilling of the water spread through her body. She moaned loudly at the feeling, not liking it what so ever. After the cold passed, she looked over competitively at Saya, smirking at her. Saya felt her eye twitch with annoyance.

"She still sounds so mature…" she grinded her teeth in annoyance at such a thing.

Wanting to change the topic, Saya looked around for anything to discuss. Her eyes landed on the erotic scene of Rei molesting Shizuka, and her eye twitched again. But a though drifted into her head. What happened between those two while they were separated? Were their lives in danger?

"Ne, Miyamoto." Saya said, loud enough to get the girls attention.

Rei paused her ministrations against Shizuka, who was blushing and breathing quite heavily, and cocked her head to the side. "Yeah?"

Saya stared hard at her, not backing down from this. "What happened between you and Naruto while you were gone?"

Suddenly, this topic of conversations got everyone's attention. Rei backpedaled in the water, staring with wide eyes and a huge blush on her face. This sent warning bells off in Saya's head. "N-Nothing really, we just drove around a lot."

Reis mind drifted to when she had asked him to sleep with her, and in the morning, they had somehow tangled themselves together, Rei using Naruto's body for warmth, and Naruto holding Rei like she was his last lifeline. She didn't want to mention the fact that Naruto had awoken with a morning wood, having spooned her half the night and waking up to such an erotic sight. Thank god he had such excellent discipline because not once did he grope her. At least in the morning.

Shizuka perked up, "Oh are we gossiping about Naruto-kun?!"

Rei glanced nervously at everyone. Saya staring at her, not believing her one bit. "Right, and I totally believe that. Not mentioning the fact that ever since you two have come back, you've been calling him by his first name."

Gah, she didn't think of that. She blushed and scratched her cheek. "W-Well, I usually always call him that, since before all of this happened. I mean he's not one to really like being called by his family name, obviously."

Saeko nodded, "That much is clear to me as well. Naruto-san breaks down personal barriers as if they didn't exist in the first place."

They all nodded, agreeing on that matter. But Shizuka leaned forward, leaning her head on her balm. She smiled over at the younger girl. "So what exactly DID happen?" She asked, genuinely curious about the answer. Getting juicy details on Naruto is an opportunity that none of them were willing to pass up on.

Rei's mind flashed to the night before. At how Naruto had transformed for a split second to save her from being raped… She flinched thinking about it. It wasn't exactly something that she was willing to share in a bathroom conversation with a bunch of other girls that she really doesn't know all that well. Her eyes were downcast and she fiddled with the water, delaying telling them as long as possible. Fortunately for her, the others girls were sharp enough to notice her hesitation. Unfortunately for her however, they had taken it poorly.

"Miyamoto…" Saya said seriously, "Did Uzumaki do anything to you?"

Her head shot up and she blushed heavily. Waving her hands in front of her face she shook her head. "N-No! Nothing like that! Naruto was great…he was more than great. He was…there for me. I just…" She took a deep breath and looked away. "We stopped for gas half way through the night, and a man came up and started to…touch me, saying that he was going to take me and make me his…" She started mumbling, embarrassed by the whole situation. It was humiliating for her.

A dark look crossed all the girls' eyes, understanding the hidden meaning in her words. Ones that she didn't want to come out and say. It was scary, for any girl, to think about that happening to them. Rei took a breath and continued, "But Naruto was there… he didn't kill the man, but he made a lot of noise, so that _they_ would come closer. And I don't know what else he did, but he had left the man there to die…" She smiled gently, thinking about how tender Naruto was with her after that moment. "I drove us for a while before he said we should stop for the night. We found a place to stay, he drew me a bath and made us food. Then I just kind of…broke down. But he listened to me, and comforted me. It was nice…having someone just hold you."

The bathroom was silent, and Rei was lost in her thoughts, thinking about how it felt with Naruto wrapped around her, with her head in his neck. She felt so safe, so secure. Like whenever he was with her, no harm would come to her. So far he had protected everyone. It was wonderful to see how well he had fit into the leader roll. At first she thought it was a stupid idea to have one, but after following around with Naruto, even if they didn't appoint him to be one, she was sure that they would all look to him for his ideas.

Saya cleared her voice first, as Saeko blankly stared down at the bathroom tiles. She obviously had something in her head, some memory or thought. So Saya took it upon herself to break the tension. "That's an unfortunate situation Miyamoto…and I'm glad you were safe. I'm glad Uzumaki was there…but let's get this straight…" her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, gaining everyone's attention again. "You said that Uzumaki _held_ you?"

Immediately Rei blushed again, "A-Ah, well yeah. H-He was trying to comfort me and I just kind of broke down in his arms. He didn't push me away or anything, I just…needed it." She looked down and blushed.

"I like being held by Naruto-kun." They all looked over to Naomi who was staring blankly at the water as well. Oh yeah, Naruto has been by her side constantly since they left school. Minus when Naruto was split by the group. He had taken her under his wing, being overly protective of her in particular.

"Maaaaa, I think I need to be held by Naruto-kun!" Shizuka suddenly wailed, startling everyone in the room.

They all laughed at Shizuka's behavior, finding humor in a situation that was humorless. They could feel the tension in the room already. Feelings were heavy in the air, as the unspoken competition has officially begun. They all looked between each other, smirking confidently between one another.

Saeko merely stood up, in her fully nude glory, and looked at the tub. "I would like to join in the tub as well, if you would excuse me." She climbed inside the tub, effectively crowding the thing. Limbs were tangled up as they all squeaked, body parts touching each other, grinding in unusual spots.

"H-Hey watch where you stick your leg!"

"I'm sorry I just control it."

"Is someone touching my butt?"

"I think I am…why do you not like it?"

"Well…I didn't say that."

"Oh well than, it's fine."

Saya watched them with twitching eyes, wanting to join in the tub, but not wanting to be molested by the teens. She sighed and continued to wash herself. Her thoughts drifted over to Rei and her situation. If not for Naruto being there, she would have been taken, most likely never to be seen again… It's only been a single day but people are already going out and acting like this. It was crazy how fast the world can fall into chaos. She started to rinse herself.

" _It was nice…having someone just hold you."_

She blushed at the thought and shook her head. No, she was a strong independent woman who definitely does NOT need a man to make her feel good. She doesn't want a man either, she knows how much trouble a relationship is as well, and not to mention a relationship in this time would be crazy and illogical. Feelings would be hurt and it would lower their chances of survival. She was a genius after all, she's thought about things like this.

Even still…

Her hands fell to her sides as she looked at her blurry image in the mirror. She imagined a person with blonde spikey hair behind her, snuggling into her neck and hugging her from behind. She sighed in longing. Yeah, she could only imagine how good it would feel to be held by him without having to breakdown again. A small smile appeared on her lips, and a fire was sparked in her heart.

Maybe one day though.

* * *

 **~~o0O0o~~**

* * *

That's all I can do for today! If I wanted to write any further it would totally be over 13000 words! Too many, too many. Alright, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Soon we will begin to see arcs that aren't related to the canon at all! But for now, it's just a loose guideline.

Once again, if you have a question/comment, please review or PM me! I'll do my best to answer anything without spoilers.

And again, I will not be updating for the next couple of days due to me working, and I work 12 hour shifts so it's difficult for me to even shower and eat within that time frame, minus writing. I hope you all have a good weekend though!


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